Top FSG groups in 2025?
Interested in FSG and would appreciate more coloring on any groups people have insight on (across BB/MM/EB)
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tier 1: MS, barc, jpm, bofa,
tier 1.5: citi
tier 2: ubs, db
below but changing: wf, santander
I think this is the rough shakeup, CS blowup def changed the the landscape, would love to see more detailed breakdown
same here! I feel like sponsors groups aren’t discussed that much on this platform so curious to see what people think. Or maybe I just haven’t seen discussions cuz I’m kinda new here lol
How have wells and Santander been doing? Do you see them ever reaching that tier 2 level where you put UBS & DB?
WF is primarily focused on corporate deal flow (where there is an increased comparative advantage given commercial lending), so unlikely anytime soon. DB and UBS strategies in the US are completely centered around winning sponsors' deal flow and being their key LevFin partners. Santandar doesn't even really win lead-lefts and is on the right on basically all deals, extremely far away from WF, let alone UBS/DB.
Would move UBS above DB., Sponsors is the only real saving grace of US performance. Almost all of UBS M&A activity outside of some industrials deals is sponsor stuff in the US, and solely off that UBS is around something like 100Bn of TEV in the US for context, DB is also sponsor-dominated, but their M&A TEV is around ~55Bn. Even in LevFin, UBS is top 5 in the single B issuance space, and I believe DB is just outside that. UBS is closer to Citi than it is to DB. WF is still mostly corporate flow from corporate lending, and San is still very early in the building phase, though those banks won the most outside of UBS (who got the CS loan book + a decent number of seniors) in the blow-up of CS.
Which banks use Sponsors Groups as quasi LevFin Origination? How does LevFin differ from Sponsors Groups at banks like that?
My bank will staff a LevFin team and Sponsors team but there is an overlap of most responsibilities. LevFin team is more “technical” but Sponsors team can do most of the basics during a process.
Tier 1: MS / GS
Tier 2: JPM, UBS, BofA
Tier 3: Barc, Citi
Tier 4: Jeff, DB, WF, Santander
Tier 1: Everyone knows MS/GS still dominate the space - do they ride off the broader platforms coattails? Maybe. Does it matter? Nope.
Tier 2: JPM and BofA are very similar platforms, but more strength across the board with JPM. They are strong across most sectors, BofA is slightly smaller scope of strength. Both tend to lean slightly further upstream towards BB/BBB land vs. solely play in B2/B, but very good platforms. UBS is a very overlooked sponsor platform given the weakness in broader corporate space, but they were tier 2.5 prior to CS (and CS was a tier 1 bank in its own right).
Tier 3: Barclays is a slightly injured franchise given some high profile recent defectors, but still extremely respectable and hold their own in the top 4-8 sponsor levfin space based on the year. Citi is not remotely as common as you would expect based on where they sit on most league tables, franchise is more catered to corporates.
Tier 4: All here for various reasons, but pockets of each of these should be Tier 3 or even Tier 2 in some cases. Jefferies has a killer sponsor franchise in very targeted niche areas (nothing can compete with a + max levg levfin read from Jeff). DB is clinging on to legacy strength, but they still have some very strong relationships (CD&R uses them a TON). WF has a few seniors with good connections, but broader platform holds them back. Santander is realistically a handful of defectors from CS that didn't roll into UBS, great bankers but the broader platform is tough.
GS has a FSG group for juniors?
Don't think so - maybe just referencing broader sponsor relationships?
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