RBC vs. UBS

What are top groups at each and how do exits look like? Which would rank higher? Even though UBS is still labeled a BB, I feel like RBC has climbed the league tables over past few years and should be in the same tier. Any advice and thoughts would be helpful, thanks! 

27 Comments
 

I do not work there but from what I have seen both IRL and consistently on here because I feel like this question is asked a lot, top groups include TMT, Industrials, Sponsors, and Levfin. I believe healthcare is growing, but that's my sector and I don't see them in M&A too too much, so might be a work in progress if they wanna get back to the good ol' days when UBS HC was a monster. Not sure about exits specifically, but I have seen people at MF from UBS but obv not as common as if you were at GS/MS/JPM/Citi/ML.

Dayman?
 

RBC has gained considerable traction on the league tables. Top groups include M&A, LevFin, Tech and CME. Definitely two solid picks but personally I’d go with RBC if you can get into a top group

 

For PE exits M&A >> Lev Fin > PU&I (for infra), otherwise not really possible. RE is solid if that's your thing.

IMO these groups are better than anything at UBS, but the average group at RBC is probably below UBS.

 

You’re in Europe, where RBC does indeed not have a presence. But in the US, RBC is very strong and is roughly on par with the lower BBs. It’s a growing shop while UBS is a declining one, so I’m not sure the answer is as clear cut as you make it out to be.

 

I would not call UBS "declining" in the way that you mean it. Their IB group rebounded strong this year so far and they have added multiple key hires in certain groups that were struggling.

Dayman?
 

I’ll play devil’s advocate here and say that it’s mostly preference here, with a slight edge to UBS for the following three reasons: 1. More historically recognized brand name 2. Larger global presence 3. Strong rebound this year (although I consider this point the least important at the current moment given how uncertain it is to sustain this. Should this rebound continue for another few years then this puts UBS further ahead, obviously).

Both of these banks will provide PE exits mostly focused on MM (likely not MF or UMM...possible of course, but not super likely). I don’t know much about Corp dev or growth equity exits from these banks, but I’m sure good candidates wouldn’t have too much trouble finding opportunities in these spaces coming from the right groups at these banks.

 

UBS could also rebound with some strong MD hires to kickstart growth. I know they go back and forth on whether they want to emphasize the investment bank or not, but their platform should be feasible to rebuild and they must have at least some good legacy relationships that they can build off of.

Dayman?
 

Any BB (even DB) over RBC imo, RBC just doesn’t have a strong name or any presence outside of NA

 

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