TPH vs. Simmons - Houston IB
Since PWP bought TPH and Piper Sandler bought Simmons, does that make TPH and Simmons EBs or MM banks?
I heard that both have great culture. Can anyone elaborate or say maybe which one is better? Is recruiting over for both banks? I know that TPH already gave offers to for its boot camp program. Any insight on either bank is welcomed.
Jefferies has the best culture in Houston if that’s what you’re looking for
should chime in. I summered in Houston at a BB and will begin shortly in NYC at same bank. My family has been in the oil space for a while now.
TPH+Simmons are totally fucked. Totally. Tph is strong in upstream, which as you can tell is getting crushed completely. Simmons is strong in OFS, but one of rainmakers bounced / retired. Both of these firms however are totally fucked because they have historically driven deal flow through sponsor-backed m&a. I would throw EVR into this boat to some extent. Capital is drying up quickly for PE firms and nobody is able to raise a new fund. Best of luck to those three firms who’s client based is fuck out of money to drive - where’s deal flow gonna come from now?
To address the restructuring argument, here is the truth. EVR and PWP are not prolific players in the energy restructuring space and none of their Houston groups actually even run the process to begin with. Look at where the public mandates are going right now - Intrepid, Moelis, and Parkman. Would even through in Ducera and gugg into semi decent places (Ducera is not HTX based though).
Where there is opportunity is at the shops that have spent the last cycle banking companies and started building their restructuring / distressed M&A practice. Citi, Intrepid, Petrie, Moelis, and Goldman. Steven Trauber (Citi) is the best in the industry and has decades long relationships with the majors / large operators. They also lend a lot.
BOA lost their top rev MD to WF a few years ago and hasn’t been doing much since. I would stay away. A good bit of their energy m&a sits in NYC.
MS is extremely dependent on sponsor M&A - best of luck to those guys. They have a small office so I wouldn’t worry.
UBS is probably the worst place to be in HTX right now. They have been running around pitching shitty drillco deals for the last 2 years that all have proven to be trash. Who tf would hire them to advise on anything? They don’t even lend that much.
WF group head came from BOA and was big on OFS. They lend to everybody and their mothers in this space so I think will play an interesting role in the energy finance space. For whatever fucking reason, these guys pop up on some huge shit too - buckeye & comstock for example. Couldn’t even guess why they get hired on random whales. IDK if they have a m&a in HTX though, I think it’s just A&D.
JPM similar to WF they lend a lot but haven’t really seen them on much. Same thoughts as Wells. Heard culture is awful.
Jefferies is interesting. Historically the king of the space, but will see how things go. I don’t know enough about their teams to make a comment.
I know absolutely nothing about CS so can’t comment unfortunately.
Let me know if I missed anybody and would love to hear other people’s thoughts.
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So you are optimistic about two banks?? You guys gotta look a little further down the road. Every banking office is not gonna be totally fucked.
I think the issue is that the banks in Houston are over staffed for the opportunity set in the next several years. Many banks doubled or tripled in size over the 2010s, some mostly on the back of an Energy PE wave that is all but dead. So the offices need to shrink and it’s hard to feel comfortable in the middle of that
LOL at WF poaching BofA's "top" MD.
Van Bergh was a capital markets guy and can't recall a single M&A deal he did while at BAML. Sure he pulled in some good revenue years before 2014 when the energy capital markets were on fire but definitely was not the top rainmaker there. Would argue BofA's done a lot more on upstream since the guy left (lead advisor on OXY/APC, BP/BHP, Comstock/Covey Park etc.) and the they're arguably stronger in midstream / downstream. Not on the same level as C/BARC but miles ahead of Wells Fargo.
Found the BofA employee
Those three banks are three of the top four places to be in Houston, with the fourth being MC. You’ll be fine.