Title. Incoming at Scotia and I've heard people shit on Scotia in comparison to the other Big 5, for IB and S&T in particular. Why is that? Is it just because of the Plum profile bs? Or are they just lower on league tables? Just curious.
| +70 | Any tips for sleeping well? | 37 | 5h |
| +61 | Wealthy Parents / Jaded | 22 | 25m |
| +44 | Venezuela Debt Restructuring - LAZ vs CVP | 16 | 14h |
| +40 | Background check issue IB Full Time | 23 | 36m |
| +39 | How are hours rn for SA (interns) | 23 | 9h |
| +27 | Investment Banking in Mexico | 7 | 19h |
| +26 | HL vs WB | 19 | 1d |
| +24 | MM bottom bucket bonus | 9 | 1d |
| +24 | UBS GIG, LevFin, FSG Interns working Sundays and 85 hour weeks their first week? | 11 | 1d |
| +21 | Excel macros for QOL formatting | 0 | 1d |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
Cringe recruiting process and bad interns
Cringe how
they don’t use resumes and everyone has to do this bs personality test
is that the only reason why tho? cuz that doesn’t seem like enough to justify the poor rep
Their post-PLUM video interviews are JPMorgan-ish & would still weed out anyone who is too technically ignorant
In Canada they’re respected and their P&U/Energy team is decent and they can get to the bottom of the Canada league tables. In America I’ve honestly never seen them on a single deal, which is why they have a bad reputation
I can't tell if you're an ignorant Canadian who ignores American energy markets or just an ignorant American.
Scotia was sell-side on the $1bn Avantus transaction to EIG (representing KKR / Avantus)
He’s just some kid that doesn’t know what he’s talking about because their P&U and Energy team’s are mainly US focused. That’s why the Canadian teams are so sweaty, you work New York City hours supporting US mandates (in addition to Canadian ones, saying this for the idiots who like specifics) for Canadian pay.
The recruiting process is extremely stupid, applicants required to do the plum profile and HR having a huge influence just results in them getting the shittiest talent since HR shortlists based off whatever dumb shit they’re looking for. Most qualified students aren’t even applying to Scotia because of this. Experience wise, a lot of groups primarily do pitching and thus juniors aren’t getting nearly as many reps as they would be if they went to any other Big 5 where deal flow is significantly better. Some groups are not that bad though and I’ve seen juniors from M&A move to solid PE funds but overall heard rough hours and culture really isn’t any different than the other banks. I haven’t heard of people shitting on their S&T division, it seems like any other S&T program at any of the other Big 5. Maybe lower pay and tougher hours but that’s just a bank thing
Having been on the other side of them a few times, honestly, they're just not great bankers imo. Not bad but not great. I would've gotten more creative to eke out some extra value from my client but that's just me.
Overall Scotia is trash but have heard that their Calgary team is top tier. Great culture and they always seem to recruit top SAs
Yes...this seems to be the general consensus amongst the most prestigious financiérs
Their recruiting process is objectively gay af.
I can give my 2cents based on personal exp and senior bankers from other big 5s.
1. They started the dumbass recruiting process using PLUM and vid interview style back in around 2019. Because of this, I personally know dumbasses from my school with 3.0 gpa getting into IB or S&T + did not do much ECs. You could basically just butter up to HR and u will get an interview there regardless of ur technical abilities - this explains their weaker junior pool.
2. league table, Scotia is only good in P&U and M&A as mentioned above. If u just pull up their league tables in other areas over the past few years, they rlly are the bottom of the 5 constantly.
3. S&T - I believe there was a thread where a top performing assoc didn’t even get much bonus (if there was any). Kinda ridiculous even though prev years were not so great from a markets perspective.
4. I’ve heard from other big 5 senior leadership that worked at Scotia in earlier days where those ppl tried to pitch ideas on how to make Scotia more competitive, but the ceo or whatever head of capital markets there said something along the lines of “no, great idea but we are comfortable being the 5th out of the big 5”. I don’t know if this is some market positioning tactic but it’s quite odd that any company is happy being the loser.
On another note tho, I believe Scotia does overpay on their base relative to all big 5, but the bonus might be another question.
Currently mulling a FT offer with them in the US. Can anyone opine?
Aut ea earum non velit sed eaque nisi. Nemo exercitationem quos eos minima minima omnis vitae eveniet. Quod rerum qui amet et. Aliquid autem ut dolorum sed debitis provident. Nulla cupiditate nihil exercitationem et quas voluptatibus dicta. Eos nihil eligendi ut natus vitae.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...