Best Banks in L.A.
What are some of the best banks to work for in the L.A. area? Thanks in advance for your input.
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Allen & Company
Moelis, CS, UBS are known to have good LA presence.
Also Imperial Capital.
HLHZ.
UBS used to I'd say. Office is decreasing in size, but still a good place.
I'd say as far as execution, deal flow, prestige:
MS, Moelis, CS
From LA, go to school in LA, so PM me if you have specific q's on banks.
Somewhat off topic. What are the best buyside firms in L.A.? Probably PIMCO, canyon ranch, oaktree capital. And for SF it's farallon, dodge and cox, watershed, clarium.
Assuming traditional PE/HF type funds (not money manager), my opinion below:
LA: Top Tier: Apollo Canyon Capital Leonard Green Oaktree TCW/Crescent Mezzanine Tennenbaum Ares Beachpoint Carlyle Strategic Partners Carlyle Mezzanine
Mid-tier: Newstone Platinum Gores Aurora Cerberus California Caltius Post Ivory Levine Leichtman Freeman Spogli THL Credit Saybrook Barclays Capital Distressed Black Canyon Ice Canyon
I'd agree. I want more info on the best HF's in LA, but they are hard to come by.
I would also include Leonard Green for PE shops.
Best LA Bank (Originally Posted: 01/18/2010)
What does everyone think? CS, UBS, MS, GS, Houlihan, Moelis?
Many of the BB were hit hard with layoffs...who will bounce back?
isn't moelis best? not hlhz
moelis
cs / ubs
gs/ms
piper jaffray
LA is horrible for banking. Go for GS so you can lateral out of there.
F*ck...there is a ZERO exit opportunity in LA...you lose your job...you r toast... Take it from someone who has been there... This is your chance in life...to explore some place different than Little Tijuana... NYC, BOS, and Chic....at least you can find another job.
Otherwise...try to be an actor/actress since you will be waiting tables anyway!!!!
It amazes me how much you talk given how little you know. 2009 Analyst classes from GS/MS LA placed into Silver Lake, Oak Tree, Apollo, and several other top firms. Moelis LA apparently went to all the megafunds. Not sure about CS/UBS but the placement is probably strong as well.
Also, GS LA is substantially stronger than MS LA, and UBS LA has fallen since Moelis left.
Ranking: 1. HLHZ Restructuring/CS/ Moelis/GS 2. MS/UBS 3. The other BBs
Ok, well there's probably about 50 total analysts in LA, so about 25 second years. Of those 25 second years, below are where some of them are going next year...
2 to KKR 2 to TPG 1 to Silver Lake 2 to Ares 1 to Carlyle 2 to LGP
Sounds like pretty good exit opps to me. I'm sure there are more that I'm not aware of as well.
He does have a star next to his name. Not everyone wants to do restructuring you know, and I would say UBS is a former shell of its old LA self.
There are quite a few strong PE firms there and in SF (LGP, Carlyle, Apollo, Silverlake, H&F, half of KKR, TPG, dozens of strong mm pe firms) and very few analysts graduating from west coast 2 year programs per year, so I would argue that exit ops are very strong.
(Unless you get fired, in which case you would be having problems regardless of your location.)
For LA: Moelis has strong name and dealflow UBS and CS have the most bankers; UBS has gone downhill a bit but still places better than CS I believe GS and MS are very similar in terms of # of bankers and deal flow; both place well bc of name recognition (similar to CS LA I believe). Would be reluctant to take HLHZ restructuring above any of these; though they have strong deal flow do not believe the name carries --> worse placement
SF/menlo tends to place a bit better for GS and MS because they do tech there and a lot of the mega PE funds focus on tech.
I agree with cashcow since my boutique is very small and other BB's have only a handful of analysts so buyside recruiting is probably easier, and SF is probably better than LA for pe firms. The best thing about the west coast is also all the great venture capital firms out here.
what about barcap? heard their sponsors group MD was ex-CS LA. also what about JPM LA?
I'm a little surprised that MS M&A in LA has been fairly downplayed in this thread. I'd say that shop, along with CS/UBS, is one of the strongest in LA. Moelis, of course, has been in a league of its own, but 2009 analyst placement was skewed, so 2010 might determine how good Moelis exits really are
MS M&A in LA is moved to SF isn't it?
Nope- MS M&A is still in LA, and a top notch group
What do you guys think between CS LA and UBS LA? I'm a junior looking at internships at both and am not sure which to choose. It looks like CS has the generalist program (which could be a plus depending on how you look at it), but UBS has product/coverage groups and better connected senior bankers. Other than that, the offices are pretty similar -- does anyone have any insight?
wso123, any way you can break down your list by bank? thanks
arent 5 out of that list of bankers coming from moelis? I know another one is from UBS LA.
Fuck UBS, it is the worst! 0 exit ops and everyone left.
The list is all Moelis, UBS, CS, GS and MS (only 1). All but one person from each of Moelis and UBS placed to $1bn+ PE. The bank with the most from that list is Moelis.
I would say for exit opps coming from LA...
do NYC analysts have a shot at these west cost exit opps? or do they prefer hiring from west coast?
I honestly think too much weight is put on which bank in LA is THE best. Just looking at size and numbers, it is no wonder why CS and UBS have had the best history of analyst placement in terms of exit ops, they have the largest analyst classes. I'm sure the analysts working at LAZ and GHL have the exact same exit opportunities, yet we don't hear many stories because there are far fewer analysts, some of who decide on doing something other than PE. My point is...if you are lucky enough to land a gig at any of the strong LA banks, pick the one where you like the culture, people, industry group, etc.
Or just realize you should be in SF for banking. and if you had real balls, NYC.
So UBS and Moelis seem the most legit?
Are the people actually posting from CA or just what you are hearing out of NYC?
LA BANKS:
From an LA guy who knows his shit
i really dont think you know your shit...nutsaboutWS.
HL should be the top of the list with moelis
i heard there are a lot deals going on in greenhill given its smaller size.
Not too sure about UBS and CS, but they are both sweatshops
barcap..i spoke with people there about 1 month or 2 ago and they said the deals havent been coming in for a while...
you mean HLHZ restructuring eric, but yeah they're a good group
How about JPM in LA?
BUMP BUMP
BB Banks LA - Industry/Product Groups (Originally Posted: 09/28/2011)
Looking for info regarding the coverage and product groups at these firms:
MS: M&A, Corp Fin
JPM: Consumer/Retail, Healthcare, Diversified Industrials, Entertainment
DB:
GS: Consumer/Retail, FIG
CS: Gaming
UBS:
Barclays: Sponsors,
Citi: M&A, Healthcare, Metals & Mining
Thanks guys, really appreciate it
best pe shops in LA: leonard green, ares, oaktree, freeman spogli, lot of good smaller middle market shops best pe shops in SF: most of the megafunds have offices in sf, golden gate capital, hellman & friedman, many others
cs is generalist with a lot of gaming i believe.
MS tech hustles, they put in work.
MS: M&A, corp fin
JPM:
DB:
GS: Consumer/Retail (Western Region Advisory), FIG,
CS:
UBS:
Barclays: Sponsors,
Citi: Healthcare, Metals and Mining
ubs is sponsors and tech right?
I think media, but not positive. I think DB has a FIG group out of LA as well, but not sure on this either.
btw, assuming that you want to start working for a BB in LA. How would you approach this? To be honest, I've never seen anything online for a location besides NYC or Chicago.
Thanks
CS is also heavy on LevFin
DB is definately FIG....i personally know people that work there.
BAML ??
CS is not gaming, it is mostly LevFin
UBS is media and some tech as well I believe. Sponsors is in SF
whats BAML again?
I hear BAML's doing weird scat to its analysts, as in they're all in a generalist pool or somescat.
Not to be a dick but:
Does UBS still have an LA office? They didnt do OCR at UCLA this year....not sure if they were downsizing or literally just shut down.
I think they still have an LA office. It's definitely less than half the size that it was just a few years ago though.
Define best?
Best LA Banks/Groups? (Originally Posted: 12/13/2013)
All the talk's about the east, what about the west?
Moelis, Houlihan RX, MS M&A
+CS la, GS la
^Pretty much sums it up except there's also a few solid boutiques that focus on media/tech.
Guggenheim has an LA office as well, haven't heard much about it though.
from what i understand, they only do CRG there. doesn't seem as busy/respected as NYC office.
Any insight on Lazard LA? Or other bulge brackets?
So best groups are Moelis, Houlihan RX, MS, CS, GS? In that order?
Bump
Citi has an LA-based M&A group.
Someone please talk to me about LA banks (Originally Posted: 09/23/2014)
I'm applying to SAs now. What are the best groups in Los Angeles for exit opportunities to Private Equity?
I have experience here. GS, CS, MS, BAML and Barclays are all good from BBs. I really liked the people I met at Barclays best personally. All these places have had very good deal flow recently.
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