Calgary IB Rankings

Using a throwaway, because my main account is too recognizable and people will identify me otherwise. I work at one of the Canadians in Calgary.

The industry is predominantly dominated by Canadian banks in Calgary, with a small, but growing presence of bulge brackets. Boutiques do a lot of the middle-market to upper-middle-market deals.

Canadian Banks: RBC - as IBank123 has mentioned, serious analyst retention problem. God awful culture from what I've heard, I've seen a couple of analysts leave to the big Calgary PE shops (Arc, Azimuth, couple guys to Triwest etc.) but the majority just go to other Canadian/American banks. RBC Rundle (A&D desk) is also good here, if you want exposure to that side of the business. RBC analysts can do a 6 month rotation to Rundle. Probably the best exits of the banks in Calgary, but be prepared to work very long hours under a lot of pressure BMO - great culture, little turnover. Loves hiring from UofA's PRIME program (I believe most of the analysts are from there), so you'll be facing stiff competition if you're from out east. Couple people hired from Macquarie and some left recently for CPPIB. TD - similar to BMO. Lots of drinking, cowboy type culture. Decent dealflow, probably the best hours of the Canadian banks. CIBC - decent culture, errs towards the harder working side. Lots of females in the shop. Has two groups in Calgary - O&G (oil and gas) and P&U (power and utilities), which is jointly run out of Calgary and Toronto. If you're interested in working on more power related deals P&U is probably the best place to be. Scotia - more relaxed hours, decent dealflow. Somewhere in the middle of the above. No very notable exits recently, outside of Adam Waterous who ran the bank. National - not much dealflow compared to the other Canadian banks, similar hours. Not a very strong brand name in Calgary. Good group of people, however.

Bulge Brackets: JPM - has been doing very well lately. Some big advisory work and have been growing rapidly in the Calgary market. Also good A&D desk if you want more exposure to that. Very long hours. GS - big name but little presence in Calgary. They have a strong physical gas trading floor in Calgary, but as far as IBD goes, not much in the way of Calgary. MS - similar to GS, except no trading presence either. Avoid if you can. Citi - similar to MS, except even worse brand name. Definitely avoid. BAML - similar to Citi. Definitely avoid. Wells Fargo - similar to BAML. Definitely avoid.

Boutiques: GMP FirstEnergy - big energy boutique in Calgary, just acquired by GMP. Anecdotally, guys here were paid the highest on the street, not sure if thats true anymore. Been slashing staff since the downturn, so probably very difficult to get hired here. Exits from FirstEnergy probably limited to Calgary Peters - other big energy boutique. Very cerebral/academic culture, lots of former accountants. Good dealflow, but similar to FirstEnergy, exits limited to Calgary Macquarie - long hours, no dealflow. Macquarie better known for its infrastructure practice out of Vancouver. Heard the MD (Sandy Edmonstone) gets his analysts to make protein shakes for him. Definitely avoid. Cormark Securities - small shop, no dealflow. One analyst, dude is like 35. Avoid, although I doubt they'll even hire anyone. Raymond James - great equity research, good trading, not much in the way of IBD. Tudor, Pickering, Holt - new energy-focused boutique from Houston. Newer office, seem to be growing pretty quick. Don't know much, but seems interesting. Laurentian - I see them poaching people, but never on any big deals. Don't know much. Animus Capital Partners - new guys on the street. Don't really know much about them, but they seem to be poaching a couple people from other banks.

This probably will help you a lot (can't post links with a throwaway, just replace the DOT): https://twitterDOTcom/YYCStreetMoves