Bankers in the Southeast

Any of you bankers in the Southeast, Atlanta to be more specific? How does the work/culture compare? How about compensation? What schools did you attend? How'd you land your job?

 

A friend of mine interned at a boutique, said that he was putting in ~65-70 hours a week doing good work but was significantly less busy than the people in NYC. Lots of pitching but made good contacts with his bosses. He attended a top southeastern university and got the job through networking with an alum. Also heard of another guy who's an analyst at probably the top firm in Atlanta who does nothing but pitch nonstop.

 
Best Response

I'm from Atlanta, born and raised, and go to Emory and have worked at at MM PE shop in town, meaning I saw books from virtually all the southern boutiques. If I had to work at one in the south, I'd go Harris Williams all the way – maybe Houlihan (though they are not really a southern shop, and the M&A guys left, as such it is all FAS now, which I would be less inclined to do).

As for pay: I know that SunTrust is paying 65, and I have no idea about bonuses – the signing bonus was 12 though. Most of the boutiques in Atlanta were started by former Robinson Humphrey guys – RH was a southern investment bank, this would have been where you wanted to be in the 80–90s.

I don't know about the hours, but the culture at a lot of them is more laid back – a principle at VRA told me he works from 7AM to 7PM usually; I've heard they are usually out of the office by 7PM at Brookwood at the associate level. The schools I regularly see are Emory, UVA, UNC and Georgia honors and William and Lee.

In Atlanta you have:

Barcap: generalists

Blackstone: generalists

Brookwood: High quality material, smart guys, relatively old, started by a goldman alum

Breckenridge: Never saw a book, their website is ghetto

Croft and Bender: Never saw a book, top notch people

Houlihan Lokey: FAS

KSA Capital Advisors: I am not sure they are around anymore, they may have closed shop. when I interviewed with them, I was internally begging that I would not have to work there, they are stuffed in a coat closet in the KSA offices

Macquarie: Restructuring

Morgan Keegan: Full service, only saw a book from the Memphis office, which is the HQ

Morgan Joseph: Restructuring

Navigant Capital Advisors: Restructuring

Raymond James: I think they have an office in Atlanta, they are out of FL, somewhat full service (either have ECM or DCM, I think the former)

SunTrust: a bank bank and sensitive about being called a middle market/mid cap player – from what I've seen, Suntrust bankers are the most stereotypical looking bankers at the analyst level – Gucci and Ferragamo loafers, Hermes and Ferragamo ties, etc. might just be a southern/culture thing, or maybe it's isolated to the people I know. Did some bigger >1BN deals last year. They have had some people lateral to BBs.

Stephens: Out of AK, have an office in Atl, not sure how much business they do, but the bank is a great southern institution – have connections to Augusta (the current owner's father was president).

TM Capital: Have offices in NY and Boston, opportunity to co invest in some deals, which is and probably is encouraged at most of the boutiques.

I think most of these guys, except for SunTrust, go after 5-20MM EBITDA sell side deals, with 20MM being on the high side

fdba Emory Blaine and BBA or otherwise trying to find the perfect pseudonym.
 

I go to GA Tech and have interned at a boutique in Atlanta. One of my best friends has interned at SunTrust in ATL as well so I can shed a little light on what it's like.

The hours are definitely better, probably around 60-70 per week maybe more at the bigger players. I know that even at SunTrust the hours varied between groups with everything from 50 hours a week to 75+.

The pay varies a lot too, obviously BarCap and Blackstone are paying street, SunTrust as has been mentioned is 65+12 and the boutiques tend to be around 55-60K + 0-10k sign on.

Culture wise, on the whole I would say it's a lot more laid back, people are definitely much nicer and more respectful and I never got yelled at, even when I fucked up on pitch books, I worked with a small team so we all knew each other and the MDs would often invite me to play golf with them on weekends. Most of the guys really want to help you learn.

On the whole, if you're set on the southeast, I would probably advise you to go to SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, they're a solid shop and a lot of the boutiques are founded by former RH guys. I also know that they have closed some very large deals over the last few years and they're on their way up. My buddy who interned there said a lot of the MDs have very stellar career histories and they're attracting a lot of top talent. And if you decide, you can probably move to a BB if you rock your analyst stint. I know in my buddys intern class there was a kid who went to a BB for full time.

 

Have a few friends that work in Morgan Keegan, they prob work between 50-75/80 hours a week, trending towards the lower side. Also know a guy working at Stephens in Dallas, good bank, works more, 60-85 hours a week. The pay is comparable to what someone said about SunTrust, although signing bonuses may be lower. No idea about year end bonus numbers, but pretty sure they don't pay street. Exit opps are good regionally; there are small hedge funds/PE groups everywhere. Comments about moving to a BB are probably accurate if you're a rockstar, could probably move to a regional BB office even if you weren't the top analyst in your class.

 

Great post Faustus. I'd also add McColl Partners and VRA as you mentioned. You're spot on, almost every single boutique in Atlanta was formed by ex-STRH guys.

Atlanta ibanks predominantly recruit from Emory, Duke, UVA, Vandy, UNC, and Georgia. Ga Tech is a great school, but it isn't really known as a finance/business school. If you have good grades, went to one of the aforementioned schools, and have roots in Atlanta you shouldn't have a hard time landing a banking gig.

Breckenridge's website is ghettooooo. This is banking. Spend a few g's to fix that shit up.

 
kingtut:
Great post Faustus. I'd also add McColl Partners and VRA as you mentioned. You're spot on, almost every single boutique in Atlanta was formed by ex-STRH guys.

Atlanta ibanks predominantly recruit from Emory, Duke, UVA, Vandy, UNC, and Georgia. Ga Tech is a great school, but it isn't really known as a finance/business school. If you have good grades, went to one of the aforementioned schools, and have roots in Atlanta you shouldn't have a hard time landing a banking gig.

Breckenridge's website is ghettooooo. This is banking. Spend a few g's to fix that shit up.

Yeah, McColl does high quality work, very similar work to Brookwood (in work quality, not business, believe McColl does more) and HW. I did not know they had an office in Atlanta. I actually just checked out their website – which is a little gotham like – no idea the firm was started by Hugh McColl, there is rumor he would keep a live grenade on his desk when he was building what is now Bank of America!

fdba Emory Blaine and BBA or otherwise trying to find the perfect pseudonym.
 

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