WF vs JEFF
Have offers for nyc FT 2026 analyst, interned at another MM this summer. WF is gen and jeff is a decent group but not top that is seen as more pigeonholey and not where i want to be long term(muni, pui, fig, energy transition). wondering if WF has caught up enough in rep to consider taking it over jeff for culture and lifestyle reasons. don't think i have interest in PE and so am looking for either longer term banking or lateralling to a stronger bank in a more standard coverage group. have heard jeff is worse at cultivating juniors but assume it would probably make lateraling easier
when did you get the WF offer
last wk on friday
Career banker plans make WF an attractive choice. JEF will be a grind but you’ll get great experience. However not worth it if you don’t care for PE imo
thanks for this- for more context the jeff offer is for a more "pigeonholey" group like munis, pui, fig, energy transition. i was thinking it would be easier to lateral to bb/eb from jeff in a similar group, then transition to an industry im more interested in. would being at a more standard WF group outweigh the jeff experience if i were to be looking to lateral into a more standard group?
Lateral from both platforms will get same looks imo. Probably easier to lateral from a non-niche group but jeff still strong enough name imo to get looks from most places
Congrats on JEF PU&I
Ignore title—current An2 at WF in a decent group. Can’t speak too much on Jef but can give good insight on WF.
The culture is pretty good here. Yes, I have officially drank the Kool-Aid. I’ve never worked over 85 hours a week, even on 2 live deals. My team is incredibly understanding and personable. The bullpen goes out to drinks every Thursday night. We have our own fantasy league with everyone on our floor (65th floor w/ 360 views of NY, that is). Most of us leave office at 3pm on Fridays, WFH til 6, and don’t log back on until noon Saturday morning.
Pay is great. My all-in comp for An1 was $185k, including signing bonus. A friend of mine in TMT was just promoted to Associate. His comp this year will be $145k base + $40k promotion bonus +~ $150k bonus (mid bucket from this last bonus season).
Out of my group and analyst class (12 total), 1 going to corp dev, 2 lateraled to other banks (1 BB, 1 EB), 4 going to PE (mix of MM/UMM), 1 left for a start-up, and other 4 plan to stay for Associate promotion.
All that said, I would pick WF, especially if you are going to be pigeonholed into a group at Jeff. If timing allows it, try to talk with people who used to work in that group.
Ultimately, the choice is yours and yours alone. How have you liked the teams you’ve networked with? Do you like the industry you’re going into? What are your long-term goals? You need to know the answers to these questions.
WF is paradise
Can confirm. I def feel like I have golden handcuffs right now. WLB is really good. Pay is good. Too many vesting shares to feel good about leaving. Love my colleagues, we all get along and hangout. Hudson Yards office is pretty nice. Really can't complain about a single thing.
The technology group bonus was 2.5k. No path to promotion. Even the principal engineers and managers make less than IB associates.
They clearly don't value non IB people.
Went to top undergrad school and regret coming here everyday.
Incoming Sa27 at wells heard there’s a new office being opened this yr? Du think my intern class will be able to work in the 60th floor space with the views? Was lowk looking forward to that loll
Tough call… both banks are good and bad for different reasons.
JEFF has better pure M&A flow but WF is a more friendly environment & better place to build a career without burning out.
Disagree completely with Jeffries having more deal flow, that’s factually inaccurate (and frankly not even close, see M&A league tables).
Also, all deal flow is executed through product groups except niche examples. So if deal flow is good in coverage groups, it is also good in product groups.
Quick corrections to aid in your decision making OP.
not at either bank but how can you say they have equivalent m&a dealflow?
How are you gonna tell people to see league tables and then be completely wrong about it
Lots of nuances on the M&A flow question
M&A or total IB?
I stand by that at Jefferies, you’re much more likely to get M&A experience on your resume. Total M&A fees for JEFF are $617m this year, per FT. WFC isn’t even in the top 10 so somewhere below $430m. However, when you look at deal value, wells is in the top 10 and Jeff is not. This implies Jeff generates its fees through a larger volume of smaller deals, while WF reels in a few big fish. Hence, on a per capita basis you’re more likely to get M&A reps at Jeff in terms of volume. But you’ll have a better chance at larger, high profile deals at wells.
Deal flow means nothing. One bank can top the LEAG one year and drop to 10+ in another year. Ebbs and flows. Choosing a bank based on YTD or current year deal flow is the worst mistake ever. Even MM banks offer better learning experience compared to BB
.
Take the WF offer
Take the Jeff offer
How does RBC stack up
Probably dead last in this race. I went to college with 2 analysts. Apparently, they have 0 deal flow, pitch their asses off, and get discounted bonuses. Seniors are assholes and want to share their misery with juniors. Both of them tried to lateral/exit but were not able. One going to UCLA MBA. The other is headed to his dad's mortgage brokerage in Tallahassee lmao.
which group were they in?
absolute ass do not go there unless you have a guaranteed spot in PUI or M&A which in that case you can maybe consider it for some middle market experience but still toxic people/culture. Industrials has deal flow but its all on powerpoint and the other groups from what I heard are pretty mediocre with toxic people. ECM/DCM could be good for lifestyle though if that piques your interest as majority of the deals that do come in are focused on that.
Wells - bigger brand name, better comp, better culture / wlb, better exits
Take the Jeff offer if PUI or FIG - you'll have better optionality since you'll probably have closed M&A or private placement deals on your resume. You can switch banks/groups for Ass1 if you decide you want to be a career banker but also be set up well if you have a change of heart to goto the buyside. I like the enthusiasm about being career banker but trust me things change after 2 years in the meat grinder.
However if you can swing Wells FSG in placement I'd way rather do that than anything at Jeff. Make sure that you don't get a shit group at Wells.
What’s with all the glazing over wells FSG? I understand the culture is strong, but their market share and flow with sponsors isn’t very good. Is it a culture/pay thing?
Totally agree on choosing wells if your offer is in one of their “good” groups. REGL, FIG, LF have historically been strong, IND and M&A are rising. Not sure about the others.
I know a guy who exited to a top UMM PE fund from that group a month ago. He said that compared to his own, the analyst class below him (now An2s) has about 2-3x the amount of exits, all to funds with >15B AUM....so not bad for WF.
Agreed their market share is still weak and could use improvement, but I think students/recruits are starting to prioritize comp and culture recently...way different from my recruiting class. In 2021/2022, we were all prestige-obsessed hardos, myself included. Maybe this is just a new age. Just have to hope that lack of deal exposure at a lifestyle bank doesn't bite you in the ass for exits.
Yeah it’s a growth bet with half the ex CS sponsors team coupled with good culture and comp from what I know about them. If you want to be a career banker and don’t care that much about M&A it’s a solid play with really good buyside optionality. Also more fun to start covering sponsor clients early at VP2/VP3 then being an M&A execution guy at Director or even MD in some cases but that’s my pref
.
Muni is going to be a very different beast than any of those coverage groups you listed and probably not very transferable.
If it were a more traditional coverage group (IND, TMT, HC, etc.) at Jef, I think it’s a much easier choice for OP. But yeah, the niche factor vs a roll of the dice at WF makes this a bit different
Lot of uneducated takes on this. I hardly see any books from Wells at my UMM PE and we run the entire gamut of deal sizes from 20-300m of EBITDA. They are not a real player for sponsor backed sell sides. Period.
JEF on the other hand has absolutely taken share. PE exits will be much better than Wells. This isn’t even a debate. Reason why Wells shows up on league tables is due to fairness opinions for large corporate deals and investment grade bond deals (which you will learn nothing as an analyst and should avoid like the plague).
As to culture/hour/comp probably right Wells is better. JEF is not good in all 3 of those buckets. You will grind, but you will have excellent PE M&A reps. Wells this is simply not the case. Wells also better for career banker - Jefferies terrible place to build a career. It’s a 2-3 yrs and out to PE shop. Analyst comp is also bad at JEF relative to hours.
Last comment is group matters. If “weird” / niche group at JEF that can materially change the discussion. Don’t go to jefferies unless it’s a group that has historically placed into PE. Check LinkedIn formers and see where analysts are now. Then do the same for Wells. That will be key.
Agree with this take. 2 years and out for the flow = Jeff. Career banker for the pay / WLB / culture combo = wells.
Are any of the big banks (aside from the obvious ones with successful MM groups and premium brands like GS, JP) “real” players in the MM sponsor Sellside arena? I typically see names like Blair, Baird, HW dominate this piece of the market. Seems like the other BBs always try to take share and it ends up not materializing.
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