Currently at a power group at a BB in nyc. Looking to lateral to project finance. How are the foreign banks vs. North American teams? I know SMBC/MUFG are top dogs in the space. I heard there’s a new RBC team — can anyone speak to them or the Evercore team? I care about culture, upward mobility and potentially exits (capital markets or for corporate development teams). Thanks in advance!
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Based on the most helpful WSO content, here’s what you need to know about top project finance groups and your options:
Top Players in Project Finance:
Foreign Banks vs. North American Teams:
Key Considerations:
If culture and exits are your priorities, SMBC and MUFG are likely your best bets. RBC and Evercore may be worth exploring if you value their broader platform or have specific reasons to consider them.
Sources: State of the Houston IB Scene - 2022, US Banks With Satellite Offices in Canada, Best Project Finance Groups on Wall St?, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/best-ib-groups-in-canada?customgpt=1
Bump - I’m curious as well, although I imagine experience varies heavily between lending, advisory, and capital raising across firm tyoes
Can say Truist has been punching above their weight class, but typically the Japanese and French banks are the best in the space.
The Japanese Banks are mostly lending, RBC is lending & advisory with very interesting dealflow (they were on the Fervo Energy deal I believe) but is sweaty by Project Finance standards.
Most PF roles at BS banks are lending, though some will occasionally get an advisory mandate. There are a few industry boutiques like marathon PEI, CRC, that do a lot of PF advisory, which structures most of the project partnership, but it’s pretty specialized work
If you want to exit into infrastructure debt advisory or an infrastructure credit fund, is it possible from a lending BS bank like SMBC/MUFG? or do you need advisory experience? I'm not sure whether these exit opps value the lending experience or advisory experience more.
For PF / direct lending I’ve seen it happen a bunch, it’s a transferable skillset albeit not the “traditional” advisory path headhunters look for
Any color on BBVA PF?
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