Heard of Simmons & Company International?
anyone here heard of this company? a Houston based energy banking firm, was invited to final rounds yesterday. any info. is appreciated,
thanks.
Mark
Trending Content
| +117 | Is my life over after not getting GS? | 28 | 1s | |
| +71 | Best IB group on the Street | 31 | 3h | |
| +58 | BIG FOUR ARE PARADISE | 15 | 16h | |
| +51 | Thoughts and tips on how to speak like an investment banker. | 25 | 16h | |
| +48 | Tell me one good reason why Jefferies isn’t going to be a top bank in the next 5 years | 23 | 7h | |
| +36 | UBS Outlook | 28 | 1d | |
| +35 | How to deal with egotistical team? | 6 | 3d | |
| +33 | Highest Paid Bankers in Toronto? | 51 | 13h | |
| +26 | Very ridiculous interview feedback | 13 | 58m | |
| +25 | Got RBC offer but I have cold feet accepting. | 34 | 3h |
Career Resources
Yeah. Matthew Simmons was one of the most doom-and-gloomy successful people in finance- even moreso than Nouriel Roubini. He was literally convinced that we were not going to be able to produce enough oil to keep civilization running and go back into into the dark ages. He was brilliant, but let's just say he was so pessimistic at times that he was hard to listen to. Many of the predictions he made back in 2004- of a housing collapse and a credit crisis- all came true. At the same time, his prediction that oil production would peak in 2005- and civilization would collapse within a few years- turned out to be incorrect on both counts.
Google "Peak Oil" and start reading up on it. Be ready to talk about whether you think it's a concern or not. If it's not a concern, be ready to explain- in well thought out detail- what you think is the best strategy over the next 20 years for replacing oil demand. IMHO, the picture today isn't as scary as it was in 2006, but I'm convinced Simmon's business is about a huge bet on peak oil- and figuring out a way to mitigate it.
Read up on the EIA's projections and spend some time on the peakoil.com forums.
May want to consider reading Picket's book. Provides pretty good insight into some aspects of the energy/commodities market with a major enphasis on oil/natural gas. May give you a few good talking points. I polished it off in about 2 days too as it is a fairly easy/entertaining read.
http://www.amazon.com/First-Billion-Hardest-Reflections-Comebacks/dp/03…
This may not be helpful at all but at least its a fairly interesting book.
Yeah. They kick ass. Just do a search on here and you can find some of their questions. If you are interviewing for research be ready to get grilled.
Got a link MarkyMark? Did a search and only found general info, nothing specifically on interviews/questions (looking for banking).
very good shop
Tell them that you are Matthew Simmons' nephew. They wont have a way of checking now ;)
Top boutique energy firm, better than Tudor Pickering. Not on par with CS/Barc/JPM, but as good as the rest of the BBs
Awesome shop - heavily oilfield service focused but great placement with sponsors and work is 99% M&A. Can't go wrong.
Simmons & Co. Houston (Originally Posted: 03/19/2014)
I was wondering if anyone had any info on them in terms of dealflow, comp, culture etc. I've heard they excel in OFS but how are they in other areas of energy (midstream/E&P)? How do they compare to other banks in Houston?
Very strong bank. Good dealflow and culture. Comp is street I believe. OFS is definitely their strongest vertical. They're one of the top banks in Houston, and that includes BBs.
What are their hours like? I had a friend who worked for a canadian bank and said he could be out by 5 or 6pm provided he came in around 5-6am. I wouldn't mind that, if I could go out at night and have a life.
Simmons Houston (Originally Posted: 01/19/2012)
Does anyone know where Simmons stands in the IBD space in Houston for an associate position? And whats the usual pecking order in Houston? Also, any idea on MS, Citi and Evercore down there? I am looking at Associate positions for the summer and beyond.
.
Simmons is a well-known firm in the energy space in H-town along with Tudor. Don't know much about others.
I would say Simmons and Evercore are at the top, MS, then Citi... it really depends on what area of energy specifically you want to go into. For example, Simmons is pretty heavily focused on oilfield services, while the others may be focused more on E&P or midstream.
And in Houston, that does matter.
this is not true....
Simmons is tops and culture is supposedly great but you won't do megadeals. In Houston, Barc/CS are considered tops followed closely by Citi then DB. I don't really know how to rank the boutiques, although Evercore will remain strong I think.
DB is among the top? I heard they do lotsa downstream (boring) and debt work.
ranking above was way off tho
whats your ranking?
I'm not going to rank the Houston groups because there are too many different ways to classify them. Dealflow, pure M&A, equity and debt offerings, different streams, etc. Every bank in Houston would be ranked differently depending on what you were measuring, but in any case Simmons and Evercore wouldn't be at the top of any. Evercore had a great year, but they haven't been in the space for long enough to get a true idea of how they're going to do. Simmons is good also, but they specialize a lot in downstream stuff which isn't going to give tons of deal flow.
anyone has info if MS Houston is a pitch shop or they actually do the execution work?
It's dumb to rank these shops at any given time. There's so much quid pro quo in getting these deals it often comes down to who did a revolver or some notes for the e&p and a lot of "who's turn is it" to get the business. Neglecting my above statement, my crack at ranking:
Barclays / Jefferies CS / JPM TPH Evercore / MS GS (saving grace being the Petrohawk deal) Citi Scotia (A&D kingpins) BAML RBC BMO UBS Macquarie Tristone Greenhill Simmons Everyone else
the above is a total fail (no offense stringer). Addressed in the above order...
Barclays yes...though mass associate exit over the summer, still the top
CS has fallen off. Just lost midstream MD a few months ago.
JPM? Good guys, good overall bank but no better than C or BAML from a deals perspective in o&g. No one believes they are at this level.
TPH awesome comp. The better of the two boutiques. Bit scandalous over there...
Jefferies is only good at asset deals. That's all they do. Very good at that, but rather narrow and bank as a whole is les miserables.
EVR come on strong with Scotia hires and taking low fees to do big stuff
MS...good brand, not great in Houston, just laid off some associates
GS...lost 4 MD's last year. Analyst friend there says they havent been doing much lately.
Scotia was decent (but not above BAML in Houston...maybe in Canada) but then they lost 2 MD's to EVR.
BAML = C = JPM....pick your culture
UBS is terrible.
I've never even heard of Maquerie doing anything in Houston.
BMO...really
RBC...um no
Meh, I tried. Knee jerk attempt so will defer to some points. To retort:
CS's energy group is great despite some in and out of MD's (and really, it's all the same fuckers at that level that hop from bank to bank so don't necessarily think that's the whole quality of a group, despite the whole bringing in deals thing ha), have been impressed by those guys every time I've worked with them.
Dude, JPM is strong, common, lead left on the KKR syndicate, strong on the capital markets front i.e. debt financing's, and actually know how to properly calc EBITDAX (sounds trivial I know, long story). Buyside on XOM/XTO.
GS, sorry man, sole advisor to HK (despite snaking in last minute to get it) and buyside to Statoil is real size in the m&a front.
And Jefferies, couldn't disagree more. First, being crack at valuing these assets in the A&D front is what it's all about. Sell side to BEXP, XTO and Samson is a testament to that.
+1 one for the TPH scandal call out, fairly certain I know to what you're referring. Give those fuckers a reality show or something.
To lazy to cite specifics but the MM's I mentioned are doing deals, frequently see those names pop up on my Herold's email updates. Wouldn't brush them off just do to smaller trans size.
Cartwright - Thanks a lot. opinion on Simmons?
Very close relative of mine was an executive at Koch in their petroleum group before doing other things. He thinks extremely highly of Simmons. Their grad school placement is insane, over 40% into HBS. I could pull out the exact stats next time I'm at home. They are niche, and they don't do everything, but in its space it's a very prestigious place, in my opinion.
I think Simmons is solid.
Whats with the TPH scandal thing? been mentioned a few times on this site...
I'm with pops..wha'ts this whole scandal thing about...
to the OP, pretty much all the BBs are done hiring for this summer
clarification..in houston
Need to know about this TPH scandal...
What about Scotia, they have had huge deals come in recently, not to mention the largest energy M&A deal in quite some time
Houston Texas.
Home of the ballers, hustlas and gangstas.
That is all.
Word.
Having worked with Evercore, they are a little more efficient and better at giving helpful feedback and advice than Barclays, just my $0.02. They've also had a ton of deal flow this year.
Don't know that much about CS, but I know that they place really well in energy PE.
I agree with Cartwright about GS. A lot of their stuff is done out of NY from what I hear, and mass exits of MDs isn't a great indicator.
I agree with Stinger about Jefferies, they've had some huge deals lately, and supposedly their comp is excellent, even close to TPH. Scotia is really the specialists for asset deals, and also RBC lately since their acquisition of Richardson Barr.
Know people that work at Citi and BAML. Guys at Citi get a ton of hours since Trauber came from UBS, apparently do a ton of pitching, but have heard of good PE placement recently. BAML is good but the whole BofA thing is kind of a drag...I know some of the analysts there got deferred, BofA stock bonuses. Not what you want when you're working 80-100 hour weeks.
Wish I knew more about Simmons, and how they were equated with TPH. I know that TPH is always doing a lot of E&P stuff, and I guess Simmons does a lot of OFS. Have no idea about culture and exit opps for either really, or comp for Simmons.
That's a pretty good assessment from pork.
Scotia has to be struggglingggg in Houston since they lost the guys to EVR ( 2 MD's, 2 engineers). Sure they still get work through Canada and on smaller stuff though.
One of my former minions is an analyst at BAML and said stock doesn't play into the bonus pool until associate level....this year's discussion is Thursday, so guess that could change but hasn't thus far. Unless it's case by case.
You all will have to ask around to get the scoop on TPH....it's hardly a secret.
Comp for Simmons at the associate level is slightly higher base, but lower total sign-on package. Don't know about bonuses.
Thanks guys
Can someone please explain what happened at TPH. I am still a student and I don't know who I should ask. thanks
If you end up working at TPH and after a while earn some cred with the group and are out getting after it one night with some of the guys (analyst level only) and a strip club visit (not saying this is what TPH guys do or don't do btw) may be imminent; ask then.
Why is going to a strip club controversial?
Back to the original question . . . .
Simmons is a fantastic firm with one of the best cultures in Houston. They are a hitter in oil field services and most of the people I know who work there actually love their job. If you have an offer from them, they are a great shop to work at and I would not pass on them for a mid level BB just because your mom or aunt Sally might be more likely to recognize their name.
The only draw backs to this shop is that they do not play in deals of major size (which only matters for table credit and maybe for bragging rights) and they don't really do debt or equity of size.
The major positive here is that they are a private shop and they treat their people amazingly well in terms of pay and general karma. They also have significant exit ops in the energy PE space, which can be good, but might also not be the way you want to ride this current bubble to its end.
Can anyone expand on energy PE opportunities out of Simmons? Maybe what shops analysts have been placed?
funny - most simmons people in the uk (aberdeen) are accountants from the local universities
Simmons & Co. - Pretty good energy M&A shop in Houston? (Originally Posted: 06/05/2009)
From what I understand these guys are a pretty good energy M&A shop in Houston. Does anyone know anymore about them? How are their exits ops as far as top energy PE goes?
pretty good is an understatement. They are very well known in the mid market space as a pure energy shop. They have very good exit ops to PE with a lot of people going to First Reserve. They dont hire a lot of people and going to Rice/Texas is viewed higher then Harvard/Penn. I officed a few floors above them and chatted with a few bankers from time to time.
Lots of work on asset sales from smaller E&P and midstream stuff... not sure of how they are viewed in the oilfield services space but I imagine they are top notch there as well
Simmons has a very good reputation in the energy space. They are top notch in oilfield service and also the asset sale side of E&P. They've sent lots of analysts on to First Reserve and other top-tier energy focused shops.
Went to a big Texas B-school.Sure do they value UT Rice MBAs more than HBS.Very influential people.Mr. Simmons I think was the chief Energy Policy Advisor of Dick Cheney when he was the VP.I think Simmons is a very well known name in Energy banking.
Are they only into hiring MBAs or also undergrad?
They do both MBAs and undergrad, however they only offer summer internships to MBAs. Undergrad is only FT hires
powertime is correct.
They are long UT for analyst jobs mixed in with a few rice people
Who besides Simmons specializes in energy banking? (Originally Posted: 05/13/2013)
Also, if anyone has any insight into the field, I would appreciate any information at all.
Thank you.
Use the search function.
TPH
Tudor Pickering Holt & Co
Also, Johnson Rice Howard Weil (now part of Scotia) Global Hunter Securities
Simmons & Co. - Hard to land a job at this firm? (Originally Posted: 03/12/2007)
Is it hard to land a job at this firm?
easier than BB. The people that I know that went there were smart, but no one considered them over BB.
thanks for the insight. my friend wants to apply there with one year of oil company experience...
heard they pay above the street... a good portion of their analysts go to PE after 1-2 yrs.
Extremely well respected in the Houston scene. If you are interested in building a career in energy finance, Simmons is great. There are only a few "BB's" I'd take over Simmons.
Do they hire analyst who just graduated with a bachelors? Or do they mainly hire MBA-associates? Is it very difficult to get an internship? I'm just trying to explore options outside of the BB's.
Thanks
Et quam voluptas accusantium quaerat est. Animi laudantium tempora eos sint quo. Quos exercitationem aliquam repellendus dolor. Architecto temporibus consequuntur velit.
Magnam voluptas et incidunt porro quod enim architecto ut. Et corporis corrupti omnis quia est architecto. A ab quam numquam perferendis. Voluptates in est quam.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Et eligendi recusandae non velit omnis nemo maiores. Voluptatum est et molestias provident. Est quod facilis aliquam et unde est. Iusto ut voluptatibus quo saepe dolores hic recusandae. Dolorum odit sapiente facere est.
Cum rerum enim consequatur fugiat dolorum qui voluptas. Reprehenderit accusantium voluptas atque. Et est dolor similique et et nostrum id. Non distinctio dolorem dolorem labore facere soluta vel impedit. Non mollitia consequatur beatae quam quasi.
Sit est nihil molestiae necessitatibus sint ut. Illum facilis consequatur nobis amet iste. Ab pariatur ab perspiciatis nesciunt exercitationem necessitatibus. Architecto laboriosam ex et in. Aut necessitatibus repellendus sunt ex temporibus. Alias est illum suscipit maxime in. Veniam quis corporis praesentium dolore magni.
Quo mollitia enim quibusdam iure quo pariatur corrupti. Qui illo at inventore ea nemo et. Pariatur est illo dolorem maiores quas voluptate maxime commodi. Laudantium at ipsam exercitationem est consequatur sit corporis. Sunt quia magni sit nemo animi quo aut.
Animi quasi aut ipsa. Ut sed laboriosam facilis qui rerum magni. Quidem fuga ab sed ipsam adipisci dignissimos ut et. Quis sit eius omnis eveniet.
Sit est molestiae ipsum libero. Quia rerum eligendi dicta repellendus quibusdam porro. Voluptatem occaecati aut qui cum. Ea tenetur quidem aut quas et at cum. A qui sed eaque ut non veritatis iusto.