Can someone shed some light on what to expect in a public finance interview? If you have solid offer from Public Finance and DCM from BB, which one would you go with for better exit opps or better opportunity into IB? What's the pay for public finance, it seems like it on par with IB?
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No idea what UBS pub fin interviews look like, but generally: have a solid reason “Why Public finance?”; know about market trends; know the components of bonds, such as yield/coupon/ratings; know the taxable equivalent yield formula. DCM would probably have better access to traditional finance exit options; it is also typically easier to transition from DCM to IB, but there may be some exceptions. Pay at the junior level is relatively comparable, the discount really comes at the ED/MD level—if you’re not okay with the pay cut, you’ll most likely have the opportunity earlier in your career to switch to DCM/IB. I’ve seen a number of people do Pub Fin as an analyst, DCM as an associate, and then IB as a VP. You can ofc go get an MBA, so you’re not stuck at all if you don’t want to be!
Thanks that's very helpful information. Can you shed some light about the general hours in comparison with IB? and what you like or dislike about of public finance?
Hmm I think the hours can vary a lot but generally you can expect:
Monday to Thursday: 9am-10pm/11pm
Friday: 9-6/7pm
Weekends: Some people never work on weekends, but I think it’s pretty typical to work a few hours on Sundays to prepare for the upcoming week.
Likes: work feels very meaningful, I think at the analyst level the comp/hours trade off is quite good, the people are all really nice and kind, I also find municipal securities and debt generally really fascinating.
Dislikes: I mean sure there is a slight discount to IB but idk if there’s a negative hours-adjusted difference. RFPs can be annoying but then again IB instead has pitches. Some people might say that the lack of PE exit ops is annoying, but not an issue for me as I’m not interested in that.
I know this is for UBS but do you have any insight on TD's Public Finance group? What hours/pay are at a MM?
Sorry I don’t have too much insight other than that they’re not an enormous player in the public finance space. The thing about public finance is that the ranking of firms with most par underwritten isn’t consistent with your standard M&A league tables. Over the past year or so, it’s been like:
1. Bank of America
2. Citi
3. JP Morgan
4. Morgan Stanley
5. RBC
I’m under the impression that RBC pays on par with the top 4 bulge brackets. I know Wells Fargo also pays quite well. Im not sure about comp at TD, I’d imagine it isn’t bad but it might be at a discount to some of the bulge brackets/well ranked MM firms.
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