Growth of UBS??

I have been reading up on UBS and looking at the recent league table rankings it has grown and is now back in the Top 6/7 for overall M&A dealflow. What are some views on UBS? Are people bullish on UBS growing in the coming years post Covid while other banks struggle with high default rates?

 

UBS just released incredible earnings for ECM, DCM, and credit trading. Its S&T revenue in 2020 Q2 has been remarkable, and it ranks best in Europe for Equities and FX trading. True, its Investment Bank is smaller than most, with the focus being on Wealth Management; but it’s faring incredibly well in Europe whereas others (Barclays, Deutsche) are really struggling.

 
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Current SA and can say we have been winning a lot of mandates lately of all varieties. We have consistently been top 10 in global M&A this year. We are working on a ton of SPACs and even have a few high profile RX mandates. Yes, UBS has an RX team within LevFin. Small team of ~7 but one of the few BB who focus in RX. They take 1-2 SA. Coverage groups at the firm get to work on the RX deals as well.

We also have a new CEO coming in later this year. I am not sure on his intentions with IB but Sergio Ermotti (current CEO) wanted to downsize IB and focus on WM. Hopefully the new CEO (Ralph Hamers) will look to grow the investment bank

 
Intern in IB - Gen:

Current SA and can say we have been winning a lot of mandates lately of all varieties. We have consistently been top 10 in global M&A this year. We are working on a ton of SPACs and even have a few high profile RX mandates. Yes, UBS has an RX team within LevFin. Small team of ~7 but one of the few BB who focus in RX. They take 1-2 SA. Coverage groups at the firm get to work on the RX deals as well.

We also have a new CEO coming in later this year. I am not sure on his intentions with IB but Sergio Ermotti (current CEO) wanted to downsize IB and focus on WM. Hopefully the new CEO (Ralph Hamers) will look to grow the investment bank

That’s helpful! Working in the firm has it been super busy since you mentioned there are some high profile RX mandates going on. Also what are the MDs and seniors views on the bank going forward?
 

Friend at the firm is in a coverage group and he's super busy. As mentioned above, they work on w all products (including Rx). UBS decided to focus on Industrials, TMT, FIG, and Consumer so those groups (Industrials is top) are really busy. LevFin, ECM is really strong as well

 

Yes, my group is getting crushed right now especially the analysts on the RX mandates. It's not only the RX mandates but a combination of M&A, ECM, DCM, LevFin deals.

Not sure exactly senior views on the bank but there's been a lot of MD hires lately. They like that the bank gives you the best of both worlds. The firm is small like a boutique but also provides the products and services like a BB. Senior bankers can provide strategic advice rather than leverage the bank's balance sheet like other BB do

 

"UBS Arena is a $1.5 billion multi-purpose arena under construction and development in Elmont, New York, next to the Belmont Park race track. The venue is projected to open for the 2021–22 NHL season."

 

TMT is probably the best team here. They keep on landing big mandates, quality client relationships and recurring fees (tech and mostly telco, not media). Juniors there get a proper beating in terms of hours and intensity but they get solid experience. Consumer not great. Weird culture, you know those teams who pull consistently 100+ hours per week and yet don’t bring any fees? Consumer is one of them.

 

Since UBS has started to do well, how would exit look like again from the firm? Is there a possibility for a mega fund exit from a top group or usually UMM?

 

You should know that the only banks where exits are "usually UMM" are GS / MS / Evercore type places

 

I have heard that Industrials/TMT/Levfin are some of the top groups at UBS, but does anyone have any insight on the Healthcare or M&A groups and how they compare in terms of dealflow, exits, etc?

 

2 of the weaker groups in the bank. The coverage groups run a lot of the M&A processes themselves so M&A is not a great place to be (the hours are good though, I've seen those analysts leaving when I go down to get my Seamless many times). Healthcare is also not great, lost some important MDs and have struggled since.

Best groups are industrials, TMT, consumer, and levfin/sponsors.

 

Consumer is not strong in the US, their London consumer is solid though from what I hear. UBS has three primary coverage groups: TMT, Industrials, and FIG that are standalone and does their own modeling internally, each group has also been expanding with many MDs being poached. Every other coverage sector is put into one group and their modeling is handled by the product teams. UBS strategy is essentially to focus their resources into a few groups that has historically driven their IB revenue, and consumer isn’t one of them.

 
Analyst 3+ in IB - Ind:
2 of the weaker groups in the bank. The coverage groups run a lot of the M&A processes themselves so M&A is not a great place to be (the hours are good though, I've seen those analysts leaving when I go down to get my Seamless many times). Healthcare is also not great, lost some important MDs and have struggled since.

Best groups are industrials, TMT, consumer, and levfin/sponsors.

Pretty sure if the analyst is leaving when you are grabbing your pathetic seamless meal it would be a pretty GREAT place to be (probably gets the same pay as you anyways). Sign me up for that group!

 

Do you still work at UBS and would you say the same is still true? Incoming 2022 SA and have a few questions about group placement and which ones to target. Is M&A really working less hours than the rest of the groups? Usually M&A is supposed to be the sweatiest I thought. How is culture?

 

Is UBS on the come up? Strong PWM business will bring stability during down turns (so they should in theory be getting wrecked less than places like Barclays/Deutsche rn), and they have been doing solid in the league tables. Kind of joking but do think they are in an interesting spot as a firm, and probably shouldn't get as much shit as they do from college kids.

 

Levfin/Sponsors and FIG are probably the crown jewel groups. FIG is crazy on SPACs and was on the 4 billion Pershing IPO, friend there is getting wrecked with the amout of work and deal flow he's on. Levfin has good historical relationships and the sponsors team is strong and has done well given covid situation.

 

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