Truist Company Rundown

I recently had a coffee chat with representatives from Truist at my school. They were not on my radar before this as they do not really recruit here historically, but I really enjoyed my conversation and it seems like a great place. Can anyone sort of give me the rundown on what it is actually like to work there in terms of hours, culture, comp, deal flow, exit opps, etc.? I am especially interested in their real estate group, so if you know anything about that I would love to hear about it as well.

 
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Note: some of this has changed post-merger

Hours: Consistently 70-80/week; isn't as much of a sweatshop compared to most IB

Culture: Historically it's been pretty chill, solid "lifestyle" bank. Have heard in the last year or so the culture has gone downhill.

Comp: Historically they paid below-street. Now they pay street base and slightly lower bonus, but COL adjusted you'll be taking home more in Atlanta than a NY analyst 

Deal flow: not great unless you're in Lev Fin which is why hours are pretty light. Lots of pitching in coverage for stuff you'll never win

Exit opps: limited for PE, strong for corp dev; some LMM PE exits but won't be going higher than that. Places really well into corp dev around the SE (i.e. if you want to be in Atlanta long-term you can get really strong corp dev jobs there)

Source: Former STRH/Truist analyst who exited to LMM PE in the last few years 

 

Yeah, this makes sense.

I’ll also add that Truist isn’t exclusively in Atlanta. They take interns in NY, Charlotte, Chicago, and Houston as well, and have CIB offices in those plus Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Memphis, Miami, and maybe some others. Historically it was more of an Atlanta-centric bank, but it is becoming more national.

This is good in the sense that you’re not bound to Atlanta, but the comp is standardized across offices, so there’s no COL adjustment. However, I think the comp was actually decent last year — pretty much on par with most investment banks, give or take a bit.

It used to get a lot of hate from WSO because it paid below street, but reputation seems to be slightly better and improving.

 

Agree with the above with a few caveats.

Bank still is sweaty especially considering lack of deal flow in general and severe lack of M&A. TMT and Power / Renewables are the sweatiest in that order. If you’re a solid analyst you will regularly crank 80+ hours and weekends are not protected.

Management post merger cannot seem to make up their mind on the direction of the investment bank so teams are constantly being restructured with verticals getting carved out from different coverage groups and rolled into others. This has caused immense turn over from analysts all the way up to MDs.

Base is NOT Street. It’s at the bottom of street with bases being 100/105/110 for An1/An2/An3 while most other banks have An1s around 110K. Management says “all in comp will be street” but bonuses are probably going to be awful. They were a blood bath for associates and up earlier this month.

Agree on the exits. Have seen a few jrs exit to LMM PE and several to Corp dev. When the market was hot the move was Truist -> MM M&A focused IB to actually get some reps -> PE…now that the market has cooled several of my fellow jrs are having a hard time recruiting out due to lack of M&A experience…not a good look for an IB jr

I would not say I’m disappointed in my overall time at Truist. Day to day the teams are pleasant, most teams at the jr have decent cultures. But have not been pleased with how management has handled the investment bank from a guidance / strategy / policy POV. Maybe their vision will slowly come together but only time will tell. If you want to stay in ATL not a bad place to start overall

 

There’s some MM pe firms in atlanta / solid funds that look at suntrust people

And tbh the people I knew who went to ATL instead of NY took home much more than me after taxes / rent when I was in BB NYC

2 years ago it was like $95-110 base and bonus of $30-40k

Could get a decent studio in atlanta for $1.4-2k, or a solid two bedroom, taxes much lower

vs. NYC where I’ve been paying over $2.3k a month in rent and taxes are higher

 

Truist investment banking is sweaty with tough culture in line with rest of street. MDs that have come on board in last few years bring intensity and clients from their old banks. That means a larger number of pitches, and also a better chance to work on real M&A deals. In 2022 the industry groups at truist that brought in the highest M&A fees were healthcare, industrials & services, energy & power, and financial institutions, with a large drop off after those 4. Analysts in the groups that are bringing in fees get M&A reps, but you have to realize M&A reps = getting crushed. Read the “getting crushed is paradise” post. If you’re in an active group at Truist or any other bank, you will not have a good work life balance, you will work a lot all the time. If you’re NOT in an active group, you STILL might work all the time on pitches and bakeoffs with no active deals (worst case), or you might have the chance to have a more reasonable lifestyle at 60 hours a week (best case). 

Comp has been in line or slightly higher than street for last couple years. Yes associate bonuses were disappointing last month, but associate comp was disappointing at every bank this year (some banks gave associates $0, or pink slips, or even FDIC receivership for their bonus this year). Last year at truist associate 1 got over 320k for 12 months of work (much higher if they were good), analyst 2 made over 200k, and even analyst 1 got 170-180k or higher. Paying as high (or higher) than other banks in good years and paying as low (or higher) in bad years is the definition of street comp. 

 

Truist historically had a reputation as a “retirement shop” where mediocre BB MDs went to coast with minimal expectations for the last few years of their career (probably on a guarantee)

apparently they grind juniors with questionable deal flow so that’s the explanation of the bifurcation. 
 

their energy / power teams are not good so I’m surprised to hear it’s sweaty

 

I work in RECIB. Pretty good work/life balance, I’d say 50-60 hours a week, and left alone outside of work hours. Can be more (60-70) in the midst of a short fused deal. We just had a management change, but seems to be good for everyone involved. As to culture, I’ve worked at a Top 3 Lifeco and a Top 3 servicer/asset manager, I’ve never felt more appreciated by my colleagues than I do in my current role. Some may say that’s BS, but I definitely notice a difference.

 
Prisoners_Dilemma

I work in RECIB. Pretty good work/life balance, I’d say 50-60 hours a week, and left alone outside of work hours. Can be more (60-70) in the midst of a short fused deal. We just had a management change, but seems to be good for everyone involved. As to culture, I’ve worked at a Top 3 Lifeco and a Top 3 servicer/asset manager, I’ve never felt more appreciated by my colleagues than I do in my current role. Some may say that’s BS, but I definitely notice a difference.

This does not feel accurate, I think you are describing the corporate banking group that lends to private equity fund sponsors (institutional private capital) or the credit underwriting group but certainly not the real estate investment banking team, know a few people there that group is regularly 80+ hours 

 

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