I got general offers recently from Barclays Capital, UBS, and Citigroup, all in NYC.
Group placement won't happen until next year. UBS may be able to give me a group earlier.
Which BB would you pick? I liked the people I met at all these banks...I don't have much time to decide...
I want to exit to PE 2-3 years down the road.
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They're all big firms ... I don't think you have to worry about exit opps. My Analyst buddy from UBS tells me that they may be laying off some people though ... fyi.
On a fringe note ... Barcaps overlooks time square ... should be interesting on New Years ...
+1. BYO Moet.
I'd go with Citi.
BarCap hands down... UBS last
fuck citi
bar . ubs. citi. in that order.
Did you like all the people at all 3 equally? I'd go with whichever people you like better... you're going to be spending 18+ hours a day with these people..
Citi->Barclays->UBS
UBS is just so unstable right now that it's kinda scary... I know a lot people jumping ship from UBS
anything but UBS.
barcap --> Citi --> UBS
Barclay Capital is essentially Lehman's division which Barclays bought with a song after everything fell through. They have been doing very very well and it actually may require some restructuring in the bank because more than 1/3 of the assets of BC are coming from this new IB arm. The are probably the best growth potential imo of any bank on the street right now (in terms of bb). So yeah, BarCap all the way.
UBS is falling apart. Their rainmakers in Houston ditched them for Citi, and their rainmaker in Hong Kong left for Deutsche Bank. The franchise is definitely bleeding right now (it never really recovered)
barclays?
how would top middle markets like william blair compare with citi and ubs right now?
Citi's m&a is (at least was) murdering it for a while. Plus the co-global head is alum from my school, super nice guy. I'd say if you could land that group, put it to #1. If not, agree with all the Barcap statements, especially their DCM group.
see PM.
guys..it's a general offer so there's no way I could assess my "chances" of landing top groups.
and yes I liked the people equally from all firms.
also, how good is barclay's financial sponsors or leveraged finance groups??
I'd be interested in hearing thoughts on the groups at Barclays as well.
Citi's top groups are better than Barclay's top groups. Though overall Barclay's is safer because they do M&A in all groups.
more insights please - i have very little time to decide :(
not knowing what group means C is the safe choice since they have their CMO as a separate entity.
Citigroup > Barclays > UBS
care to elaborate?
Just PM'ed
There is no bad decision here. Citi is still under the control of the government. That being said they have been willing to get aggressive with their hires recently. Decide what group you would like to join, then decide your bank and work your but off to get into that group (networking, etc.) Good luck.
didn't get ay PM from you Penn88
Go Barclays if you're unsure.
How is this even a question? Honestly, who would choose Citi over Barcap? (but if you are even considering UBS then maybe that explains why you are even contemplating the decision) Barclays is the obvious choice, I have yet to meet one person who would choose citi over barcap given an option.
BarCap for sure...... How is this a question....
I would probably go with Citi if you think yo ucan get into a top group...
keep the comments coming guys
i think its clear its just going to be a call between citi and barcap but i still don't know which one to accept.
once again - i have 0 control as to which group i can join (i have no alumni at each bank that can pull for me).
Barcap > UBS > Citi
I would almost agree with you. That is how bad Citi is... even though it really is not as bad as UBS. Again, this should not even be a question...Chose Barclays-Lehman
If you want to do Sponsors/LevFin stuff, UBS is actually the best place to be. Sponsors was top 5 last year, group combines the LevFin product and continues to place into top PE.
If you want to do M&A, then Citi. UBS is meh at M&A and BarCap has no M&A group.
If you want to do Energy, BarCap. They murder at that and the group does its own M&A.
In terms of globality, UBS is best, followed by Citi and BarCap. Losing an HK banker to Deutsche is not cause to go crazy. I know several people at the firm who were hired in the past year from places like GS, CS, Citi and DB.
These are all great options to have. If you think you'll land in coverage, go BarCap because the groups do their own M&A. As far as the other two options go, work with HR and the UBS FSLF/Citi M&A groups to assess which you'd have a good shot at.
Citi M&A is very selective with their analysts, and the majority of incoming analysts tend to rank it 1 or 2 in terms of group preference. If you're confident in your technical skills and likability, go for it and network hard.
To be quite frank though, Citi has great top groups (namely M&A, communications, and consumer), but there are a few coverage groups that are rather lackluster. If you really have no connections whatsoever that can help you network with a group early, BarCap might be the safer choice for you.
Referring to it as Barclays-Lehman is rather misleading, since Lehman's Global Head of M&A has been the Global Head of M&A at Citi for the last 2 years. Lehman's best industry bankers were also scattered across the street, many of whom ended up at Citi together with the aforementioned M&A head. Rainmakers don't usually stick around in times of uncertainty or to undergo an ugly merger.
Regardless, the majority of bankers currently within Barclays Capital are legacy Lehman, and for the most part, all of the internal structures remain the same. As a matter of fact, Barclays is adopting the Lehman business model for its global operations, not just NYC, and is aggressively expanding the business in Asia Pacific and EMEA. So yeah - I will still call it Barclays-Lehman.
And who is calling this an ugly merger? Since Barclays acquired Lehman, the united investment bank has outperformed both of its previous two, component businesses on a standalone basis - can someone say synergies? If you intend to label a merger "ugly" then look at Bank of America vs. Merrill Lynch.
I heard Citi's M&A group only has like 1 spot left. Out of 100+ incoming Analysts, I would say my chances would be pretty slim.
Who told you that?
Yeah there's like 2, maybe 3 spots left. But that's a lot more than 1 lol.
I was told by a Citi Analyst that all 9 M&A SA got return offers and all of them are signing back.
cmonkey, please check pm...
Whoever said anything but UBS was correct.
is Barcap's Financial Sponsors grop any good?
Again, if you go BarCap, the far and away best group to be at is Energy. The problem is that sets you more on the First Reserve track than anywhere else. Media Telecom is a good place to be at there too, because they're decent at what they do, have incredible work/life and do their own M&A. People with the TMT backgrounds (even though BarCap is more a separate T and MT) still do well as far as PE opps. go.
Again, if you go BarCap, the far and away best group to be at is Energy. The problem is that sets you more on the First Reserve track than anywhere else. Media Telecom is a good place to be at there too, because they're decent at what they do, have incredible work/life and do their own M&A. People with the TMT backgrounds (even though BarCap is more a separate T and MT) still do well as far as PE opps. go.
UBS FSLF & Citi M&A. i hear both are very competitive to get into, but if you can, you'll have great experiences.
the HY market is blowing up right now too... so you'll def get a good exp at FSLF.
Diamonds, sounds like you've got a chip on your shoulder. Your post history confirms what I first suspected, that you probably recently signed for barcap and a feeling a little insecure. I mean ... "Barclays-Lehman"? Get real dude ...
In terms of advice to the OP, I'd say you really cannot go wrong with either of these banks. Citi M&A is very good, as a lot of posters on here have alluded to. They also have some other excellent coverage teams and their FEG team (similar to sponsors at other banks) does good work and you get good modeling skills there, from what I hear. UBS has a reputation for very good people though its reputation has been a bit tarnished of late, though I find that to be a bit unfair considering a lot of their issues came from the PWM side not IBD. With regards to Barcap, they have a great Natural Resources franchise (I'd venture to say best on the street but I can't verify). They also do very well in Comm. and Media and FIG (their insurance team just work on the AIG sale of two units to Prudential). Good luck in your choice!
How is the exit of Barcap's power group?
Also, what happens if you don't get selected to be the designated M&a Analyst in your coverage group? Is it a big disadvatange?
Also, are there any notable exits from Barcap's communications group? To megafunds that is...
Can't speak for the Power group.
If you don't get selected to be the designated M&A analyst, then the result is that you don't get the same overall experience. That's the kicker with BarCap. The bank may be doing well on league tables compared to a UBS or Citi, but you don't know what your role is going to look like.
All that said, a good amount of people from BarCap Energy/Media Telecom/Industrials get solid positions coming out of the two year program (whether they were the M&A analyst or not), and after you get interviews for those things, it's all on you.
please check pm nohomo
I really think you all are playing WAY too much into prestige. All three banks will give you more or less equivalent exit opps. What it really boils down to is 1) people, and 2) what group you get placed in.
Are all generalist ofers?
My understanding is that the best groups at each bank are :
Citi: M&A Barclays: Nat Res UBS : FSLF
Yes all group offers.
Assuming I'm 99.9% sure I won't get Citi M&A, would Citi still be the clear choice?
I would say so yes. Citi is in a pretty strong position right now and if you look at their performance, they never really slipped. They've always done very well in IB.
However, M&A is done within Barclay's industry groups, whereas Citi M&A does all the M&A.
Wouldn't it mean working in coverage at Barcap would be better than Citi coverage?
Pretty sure there are a few groups at Citi that do their own M&A, FIG perhaps?
FIG and Real Estate are the only ones that do their own M&A.
But that's like every bank.
I'm talking about the traditional ones (industrials, tech, comms, etc)
Citi's TMT and Industrials group are among the best on the street. Take a look at deal flow and you'll see what I'm talking about. Both very well respected groups.
Every bulge bracket says this retarded statement about each and every one of their groups.
Anyway, as someone who works in this business...believe me, at the bulge bracket level, we all do the same damn thing and interview with the same damn PE and HF shops come recruitment; make your decision based on fit/culture/people.
So what is the best group out of all of these three banks if you had your pick?
2 more days!
So what have you decided?
bulge4lyf, do you work for citi or something?
No, but having just read some of my posts I can see why you'd think that :p
UBS is falling in the ranks, but still a good place btw
I am choosing barcap tomorrow i think..
look at diamond being a fag who works at ubs.
ubs sucks the most and every1 knows this. the bank is dead and on par with middle market.
citi > barcap >>>>>>>>>>>raymond james = ubs = jefferies
barcap>jt marlin>citi>equities in dallas>ubs
wtf is equities in dallas
Its from Liars Poker...a book you should have read
How soon do these expire? Any chance you can leverage these for GS, MS or JPM (or LAZ if you feel like going to a smaller place)?
Hope you didn't go with UBS.
These expire tomorrow morning
Depends on what group you're interested in... I'd say Barcap > UBS > Citi
Found that UBS had a slightly more "European" culture... maybe just me.
Dickens, aren't you just a college student still looking for a SA gig?
I would go Citi>Barcap>UBS.
But seriously who cares, if its not JPM, MS, GS its the same anyway. And even then, you'll be doing similar work unless your group gets no dealflow.
It also depends on what group. Citi M&A is very strong, Industrials/Metals and Mining in Chicago is extremely strong as well, they fully execute out of there.
Barcap has a very strong TMT group. UBS has a very good Lev Fin group.
Dickens ur in college and know shit.
Everyone here worth their salt (like above poster) will say Citi > Barcap > UBS.
UBS lost entire healthcare team, plus TMT, plus energy bankers (to citi), plus just about every other top producing senior banker. Do not go and ANYONE will tell you this. I personally know 10 ubs 2nd and 1st years trying to jump ship to any other BB that will take them (some taking middle markets).
Even ubs levfin is top 10 and at end of the bulge bracket tier. The rest of their groups are top 15 to top 20.
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