Bulge Bracket Healthcare Group Rankings in SF? Deal Flow/Exit Ops/Comp?

Would like to know where BBs rank in terms of deal flow/compensation/exit ops within Healthcare in San Francisco. Where do the majority of biopharma guys recruit to? Much appreciated.

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Being honest, HC is one of the most equally matched sectors amongst the top 3-4 banks. That being said, JPM probably is the top group in terms of deal flow and consistency. BAML was absolutely killing it, still is, but lost some MDs about a year ago. MS does well too of course. GS healthcare is actually relatively weak but it's GS so they still get good work. Past that, not much in the way of competition from Citi, Barclays, etc.

TLDR; JPM, BAML in terms of total volume and of course MS and GS are who they are in terms of prestige and exits etc, so......

 

Honestly, I don't know that much about HC so not sure you want me shooting from the hip on this one. This also isn't SF specific, but general deal flow based on what I've seen coming from HC to M&A and CapMarkets at my bank and others. From what I've heard from my friends in HC though, the top 4 banks (GS, JPM, BAML, MS) do a good amount of HC volume across the different verticals and it changes a lot year by year. There might be proficiencies but I'd have to get back to you on those since I just don't know.

The other BBs yeah are all a bit behind. I think Barclays does okay and I've seen them on a decent amount of HC stuff. Citi has gotten on some stuff recently, not sure if that's a stable development though, have heard their dealflow is very volatile. Don't know for DB, CS, others.

In my opinion, if you want HC at a bulge bracket, you definitely want BAML, JPM, MS or GS if you can get them. I'm sure all those groups must place really well in HC related CO/PE/CF if their deal volume, exposure, talent pool, etc is any indication.

 

hospitalER - yeah that is definitely part of it. however, when i mentioned growth i think i was referring more to the fact that their HC coverage is rapidly growing at RBC (SF office definitely has more of a tech coverage presence than HC right now) and it seems like that could provide a new analyst with a ton of experience.

as a west coast kid who lingers on this site a lot, i fully understand Lazard's reputation. However, i have always heard it being discuss with regard to the NY office (and in particular it's RX group). That's the main reason i am curious to get some inside advice regarding SF healthcare groups.

 

Thanks for the advice Black Jack and hospitalER. Talked it over with a few older friends in the field today as well and definitely have made up my mind. Really excited to be moving from a BB satellite in LA to SF for this.

 

hospitalER - Making decision by end of day since Laz explodes tomorrow. Definitely taking that over RBC...however just got an offer from Houli down in LA for their M&T group. As an LA kid it makes the process of isolating location preference from my decision a lot more difficult. I am way more interested in Healthcare and I am fairly sure the deals Laz does in SF are consistently larger with this Houli group in LA, but I can't lie to myself saying location (and preference for LA) isn't being considered right now.

 

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