Thoughts on UBS From Someone Actually at UBS - 2025
UBS is by far the most talked-about bank on this forum, and I think there is a lot of blatant misinformation that largely stems from outdated knowledge or information from people in certain very bad groups. As I am stuck here waiting for feedback on a Saturday night working, I figured I'd give my thoughts as someone who's been at the firm for a year now and knows people across groups.
Is UBS America a top franchise? No. But are there exits? Absolutely. The Linkeldn data that someone posted earlier shows people from Tech (FP and HIG), Industrials (Veritas and GA; seems like best group for exits), FIG (Stonepoint), and LevFin (Oaktree and Ares PC) land UMM+ seats in 2025. The brand still carries weight thanks to its legacy reputation, and while it’s not GS/MS/EVR, it’s also not the wasteland some people make it out to be.
Culture and hours vary a lot by group. LevFin, M&T, Healthcare, M&A, and Industrials (not sure any group is actually working way above street hours though tbh) generally grind harder, while the other groups tend to be much lighter (below street hours). A lot of that simply comes down to deal flow versus headcount. The analyst experience is also very uneven. The top third of each class gets staffed on all the live deals, builds strong reps, and has exit options. The bottom third, on the other hand, usually gets little to no live deal experience and struggles with exits. That’s not random; it’s mostly people who are either terrible at the job or impossible to work with. If you avoid being either, you’ll be fine.
Overall, I’ve been relatively happy at UBS. You can coast as a mid- or upper-mid bucket analyst, earn street or even slightly above street bonuses, and work fewer hours than peers at true BB/EB sweatshops. Exit opps into MM/low UMM are still there even if you’re not in one of the groups with clear UMM+ placements. So no, UBS isn’t a top U.S. franchise, but it’s also not the graveyard people here like to pretend. If you pick the right group and do your job well, you’ll come out just fine.
I will note that the exit info seems wrong; there are more UMM exits than you mentioned. Tech also had someone exit into PSG, M&A had someone exit to GA and THL, and Consumer had someone exit to Platinum. More groups with UMM exits than you are claiming. These exits are fairly reflective, given it's the first year of exits for people who started/are fully UBS. I would agree that the analyst quality difference is huge at UBS; at some of the groups with multiple UMM exits, there are bottom bucket analysts who can't even get a LMM exit (most coverage groups are 6-8 people a year, and product groups are bigger than that).
“Protected Saturdays are our craft”
Dude every analysts has analysts work on Saturday if something is live; it's just part of the job. Hope you can get a new job though after the lay off year ago
UBS analysts are forced to work on Saturday over not live and not revenue generating stuff
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