Wells Fargo vs. UBS

Wells hands down (assuming NYC).

Wells Fargo hands down, growing franchise vs UBS which is downsizing in IB. I would take DB over both, which may be an unpopular opinion on this forum.

I’d pick Wells over UBS. While people can shit on Wells all they want, it is a growing bank and slowly gaining market share. Will be a very strong bank in a few years once asset cap is removed and they get a little more lenient with their lending services.

Dat Hudson Yards office doe

WFS

According to WSO, this is like comparing a garbage can to a recycling bin.

I'm going to have to say WFS. UBS is a sinking ship and has really had some trouble in getting deals these past few years. WFS capital markets has been competing with even mid-tier BBs. Their m&a has room to grow, but still is way head of UBS now. There's also a lot of concern within UBS about cuts in the IB business.

Honestly I'd say UBS hands down but clearly I'm in the minority.

Just adding onto this now that this post is growing--I think UBS is still a stronger platform that is just underperforming, but some strong hires that bring substantial connections over to the UBS side could turn things around quickly. UBS had many very top tier bankers in the past, and adding new high profile guys could really respark the place. As things stand now, I'd still go there.

WFS is just stronger in the majority of groups and has strong potential for growth given their lending capabilities and Charlie’s liking for investment banking revenue.

Wells but you could go either way

UBS. Substantially better exit opps

OP here - the results seem super mixed. I’d join either in 2022 and stay for 2 years so my specific question would be what would have better exit opps right after. don’t really care wether the bank is growing or not - hopefully bank brand won’t last my entire career.

I'm really surprised by the responses here. At the top groups, ubs places significantly better than wells. If you're leaving after two years anyway, the downsizing likely wouldn't impact you

Notice all the older guys trying to claim that UBS is a better pick because of the legacy "brand name" or whatever when not only is this not true anymore and will only become less true in the next two years but is also dangerously bad advice to give summers. These are the same people that last summer told kids to take DB over other strong banks because of again the legacy "brand" completely ignoring the serious difficulty the bank was having. Well look, now you have a bunch of incoming summers currently shitting bricks on the DB thread because they don't know if they're going to have a role at all this summer. If they do, returns are likely to be very low and they are rightfully-so panicking now. Many of them gave up offers from places like JEF because idiotic analysts were telling them to pick DB instead.

Go look at the threads yourselves, I was thrown a bunch of MS for telling them to take JEF. Amazing how that works.

UBS definitely has the better brand name. While you can argue UBS is falling and Wells is growing, they're not really in the same league to begin with. Wells Fargo will always be a commercial bank first while UBS has always been focused on advisory in NA.

May get shit for this but in terms of general reputation, UBS had way more kids recruiting for it in my target school (Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth) than Wells Fargo. Let me know if your experience was different but this was just my two cents. (I don't work for either of these banks btw)

What are the best groups at Wells? Regal? Industrials? Energy? I would like to hear from people on the street and not interns chiming in.

Depends on what you're looking for. If you just want 2 years and out to PE, take UBS hands down. WF primarily exits to LMMs and more occasionally MMs. Whereas UBS the typical exit is a MM with a handful going to UMMs, doubtful anyone is getting a MF.

If you're looking for a long term career in banking, I'm still hesitant to say WF, but I'll talk about the pros and cons of both. If I were in your shoes I'd take UBS because it's guaranteed NY, and I'd either lateral after my SA or after a year as an analyst. You'd be in NY so networking would be a lot easier. I'm ride or die NY and very open to lateraling so that's why I'd choose UBS.

However, with WF you can stay at one firm and work your way up. WF is a growing platform, as opposed to UBS which is shrinking (hence why I said to lateral). Since it's growing it will be a lot easier getting promoted as there's much more room for growth. There's a lot of upward mobility at WF and a lot of people who have started as an analyst there and have worked there way up to MD.

Biggest warning I can give is a link to a thread below. With WF group placement is very iffy. You can end up in a group that really shouldn't be lumped together with IB and unless you get priority placement (woman/diversity), you'll most likely end up in Charlotte, which makes it harder to get to NY (and personally I wouldn't want to live there).

https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/a-warning-on-the-wells-fargo-sec…

Just a data point for OP. My friend and I were BOTH faced with this same decision. He chose one and I chose the other. Ultimately, at the end of the summer, we both wanted to jump ship and both of us landed at the same Top BB. Either will provide opportunity to recruit FT and move up the food chain if it’s of interest.

people saying "ubs is better for pe" are plain wrong, wells fargo did much better in on cycle recruiting for analysts who started in 2019. really no reason to choose ubs, especially since they have no standout groups

UBS if you get a top group, hands down. Have a friend in the FSLF group and who got interviews at quite a few MFs and accepted an offer at one. People out of that group have always placed well. Think TMT and maybe industrials get looks from decent funds as well.

You're not going to get similar exists from WF.