Anyone? Goldman Sachs IBD Financing Group

Has anyone here ever gotten into their IBD Financing group (capital markets) superday for the summer analyst program?

I tried to do some research on what exactly this group does, and still kinda confused about what exactly are the technical skills they expect from a candidate? what kind of questions do they ask?

Thanks.

 

FG focuses on senior bank debt transactions, such as where a revolver, term loan is being issued. When high-yield is involved, the lev fin guys also are involved. It's also not an origination group, but you develop a strong corp finance and credit skillet.

The reason why it's not discussed here more frequently, is because their recruiting is done on a "as-needed" basis versus the traditional IBD model; class sizes are small (maybe 1-2 interns in NYC).

Go to Lazard if you want better exit opps. Barc is decent, but I'd go with Lazard cuz u will stand out more.

 

Thanks, ibanker12, that does make sense. But will Lazard position you well than GS in terms of exit opps? I still don't know what I wanna do after 2 years or in the near future and am definitely not dead set on PE.

 

I didn't see you that u had Soros....that's actually pretty impressive. Infact, that trumps all the opportunities u have on hand in terms of prestige. But, this all depends on your title there: are u evaluating investments, preparing research, screening/generating ideas; or is it more generic.

If u don't know what to do, go with banking at Lazard, as banking will open up broadest set of doors, including HF/PE later on.

If u want maximum exit opps/best bschool placement, go with Soros, then Lazard. Soros may only hear you best for HF opps; PE might require a better story for why u want to switch.

If u just want GS cuz a college senior said so, do it.

I'm not interested in HF's, so if I were you I'd pick Lazard coming out of college, given that Soros doesn't have training/development opportunities that banking provides.

 

Soros is best! That's awesome. (If it is like Ops, maybe not... but sounds like it could be great.)

GS IBD Financing is small but good and you get the upside of being able to spend your third year in coverage or elsewhere in the firm... GS is good about internal mobility both within IBD and even across divisions.

Lazard is great though too.

I wouldn't choose Barc, and my first choice if it were a decent position would be Soros.

 

Equity Investment at Soros. (Long / Short) I really had no idea that it was such a sought-after position.

I've also heard good things about internal mobility at GS... though am not sure if I'm interested in capital markets.

Anyway, given the uncertainty surrounding Barc, I think it's safe to rule it out. So now Lazard/GS vs Soros.

 
Best Response

There is no point in going to GS to spend a year working in the financing group not getting the experience you want with the hope that you can lateral into a coverage group to then essentially repeat your first year as an analyst. Anyone saying to take GS over Lazard and lateral after a year is a moron.

The prestige whoring on this site is absolutely ridiculous. Why would you ever waste a year doing something you don't want to do when you also have no control over where you would end up in that firm after your year of servitude. Lazard will get you to where you want to go if you are good.

I'm so sick of all these kids thinking that GS is the end all be all to everything. NEWS FLASH... if you are a mediocre analyst at GS, you will probably get a worse gig than a stud analyst at any other bank. You don't even know for a fact that you will be able to lateral into a coverage role after a year in financing. Even if you are able to, there is no guarantee that it will be a group that you like. You take the most direct route to your goal... what if you go there and get stuck in the financing group and all you are doing is borrowing base redeterminations and revolver extensions... have fun getting to a Mega Fund doing that bro...

Kids are so short sided it is stupid, and it is a function of all the bad advice and prestige whoring bs that goes on thru this forum. If you legitimately don't know about the industry or are just parroting back something you heard 3rd hand from some dude your roommate's girl friend is blowing on the side, you shouldn't be giving career altering advice about it.

OP, if you want to work in a hedge fund, take the Soros gig if it makes sense and you like the team and believe that the role will aid your development. If you want to work in IBD and then maybe go on to PE or a HF, take the Lazard gig unless you can't stand the people, in which case take Barclays and if anyone gives you shit, fuck em... Take the GS Financing job if you want to go to bars and tell girls you work at GS while you pay for their drinks and they go home with a guy who works in Audit at PWC but isn't a brand whore...

 

I didn't specifically interview for FG, but somehow ended up speaking with many FG people. I think fit played a big part.

I'm not one of those GS admirers and am actually more inclined towards Lazard when I think about exit opps. I even go so far as to say Lazard is more prestigious than GS. But I didn't really click with people at Lazard...

 
pu2011:
I didn't specifically interview for FG, but somehow ended up speaking with many FG people. I think fit played a big part.

I'm not one of those GS admirers and am actually more inclined towards Lazard when I think about exit opps. I even go so far as to say Lazard is more prestigious than GS. But I didn't really click with people at Lazard...

Ok, now we are getting somewhere. I would set FG to the side for now and focus on a couple of questions.

  1. Are you interested in working in what will be a predominantly corporate banking type of role? Do you enjoy evaluating debt at the more senior end of the capital structure?

  2. Would you rather be doing banking? Do you want to work in PE, and therefore necessitate transaction experience to learn about how a company is impacted by the pro forma effects of a transaction as a newly formed entity?

I understand it is hard to know what you want to do at 20 or 21 years old, but if you don't know that you want to work in the Financing Group, all you are doing is closing doors for yourself. It will be infinitely easier to work at Lazard first and then decide, "wow I don't enjoy this, I don't want to work in PE" and then migrate to a financing group than to move the opposite way.

With respect to your banking options, I think everyone knows that Lazard is the better option, but you said that you didn't feel like you "click" with the people there. My guess is that you met a handful of people thru the interview process... perhaps 10-12 at most. Knowing that Lazard is going to provide you better opportunities, what I would do if I were in your case is to reach out to HR and explain that you are excited at the prospect of working there, and that you want to conduct some additional diligence so that you can make the best decision for both you AND the firm. This conveys maturity, and lets them know that you are seriously considering accepting their offer. Ask them for names of add'l people to contact and reach out to them and talk to them on the phone and see if you like some of the new people you talk to better. The more people you talk to, the better you will be able to gauge the culture of the firm as a whole. If after talking with many more people, you still don't think it's the right fit, then don't accept if you think you will be miserable. Only you can evaluate whether you will enjoy working with people, and if you're going to hate it, your work will suffer and those "exit opps" that everyone raves about will diminish. Barclays is a solid firm and if you find that you can get placed into a solid group in which you really like the people, then go there and don't look back. This isn't going to preclude you from any opportunities, you might just have to work a bit harder for them.

At the end of the day, the vast majority of the people on these boards get so tied up in pointless arguments about the placement probability from certain banks to certain types of funds, but very few of them have worked in banking, and if they have they will likely acknowledge that the biggest driving factor in whether or not you get offers is how good YOU are, not how good your FIRM is. Sure, better firms will win bigger deals, but if you aren't a good analyst, you might not work on them anyway, and when it comes to interviews, if you can't perform, it doesn't matter what bank you worked for. If you are a stud, work on some quality deals and you can articulate the entire process intelligently, and explain your role within it, you are well on your way to getting offers.

Think about this decision, and make the decision that is best suited to you, not the decision that you think a bunch of random college juniors on an anonymous internet forum with respect. They aren't going to have to take shit from the senior guys at either place... you will.

 

Thank you, Rufio. I wouldn't be interested in evaluating debt very much, though I alwayed wanted to work on IPOs. I can clearly see myself doing 2, or to be more accurate, I only know doing 2. FG on the other hand is unknown territory for me... Meanwhile, HR at LAZ and GS set up additional meetings for me this week!

Btw, what do you think of Barclays recent announcement? I bet senior bankers aren't happy with their bonus deferrals and as a result top talent may leave the firm... Will the size of Analysts bonuses also be affected?

 

same comp, same everything...also financing group is more than just ecm/dcm and lev fin, also includes swaps, converts, structured finance, project finance...

 

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