Wanted to start a discussion and get some opinions on the current state of banks/boutiques across Oil and Gas/Energy, especially since DB recently closed down its Houston office. I've heard that, as far as the BBs go, Barclays and Citi are considered some of the best for O&G, over GS/MS.
EBs like Evercore are quite strong in this space, apparently, and Jefferies/TPH are very strong in MM.
Anyone have any insight on what the different groups are like? Curious to know about the different cultures, deal flow, pay, etc. Hoping to recruit for a post-MBA Assoc role starting this Fall.
In the energy space, Jefferies is far from MM. They did like a ~7.5bn deal in September. CS is also up there in dealflow alongside Barclays and Citi. In terms of pay, I’d say TPH, Jefferies, and Evercore will pay the most. Prestige not sure. In terms of culture for juniors, TPH, RBC, Evercore, UBS, and Simmons seem to enjoy their time spent.
What about Lazard in Houston?
Only know one guy going there (hasn’t started yet), so can’t give an informed answer tbh
Lazard Houston is supposed to have a great culture. Unfortunately it seems like they are in a bit of a tough spot and have lost a lot of their mid levels to other banks. My feeling is that their setback has created growth for Moelis and Greenhill who are filling the spot where Lazard used to be, both investing in growth (and both took people from Lazard). The top EB's in Houston are still Evercore and TPH(PWP) but from a post MBA associate I would also advice to find a place with the right cultural fit, two years in the wrong spot as an analyst can be tough, but when you are stepping in as a career banker my priorities were different than just looking an prestige and deal flow.
Culture over there is good. They really like to hype up their restructuring group. But I honestly couldn't name a single deal that they've advised on recently. Evercore, Jefferies, TPH, and Simmons (but only if you work on the OFS desk) usually gobble up most of the boutique deal flow in Houston.
Agreed, and labelling TPH as "MM" is also very misleading. They worked on 3 out of 4 of the largest upstream corporate M&A deals last year (excluding BHP as that was technically an asset deal).
What about placements? Any insight?
Thoughts on Morgan Stanley's energy group? They seem to have strong dealflow, does anyone know how large their summer analyst/associate classes are?
Would rank the BBs as such: 1a: Citi/Barclays 1b: GS/MS
You honestly can't go wrong with any of those places from deal flow perspective. Culturally, they're certainly different.
Edit: Would also through CS in there somewhere as well, depending on what you're looking for. They've been known to curb stomp the competition in O&G ECM, but I'm not sure about how strong M&A advisory deal flow it.
If you are interested in working sweatshop analyst hours (or worse) in exchange for a ton of deal experience and unreal comp (caveated, as that will likely come with a clawback structure), Jefferies should be number one on your list. I believe your chances of breaking in will be tougher there as there seems to be somewhat of an innate bias to recruiting A-to-A (whether that's internally or from other top energy groups). You should tread with caution, as earning the "respect" of analysts and fellow associates as a post-MBA hire at groups like this will not be a straightforward task and could prove challenging if you aren't able to pick things up very quickly.
If you want a slightly more "reasonable" work-life balance while getting a well-rounded experience as an MBA Associate and enjoying the benefit of a brand name, I would suggest CS, JPM or MS. Barclays and Citi can be a hit or miss depending on what you get staffed on / who you primarily work under at the senior level, but are still good places to end up generally speaking. GS Houston (as evidenced by other recent threads, one of which may have been deleted) is no stranger to significant cultural issues. I would be sure to do your own due diligence via networking with former analysts/associates/VPs who would be willing to speak under some degree of confidentiality. In my personal opinion, going to TPH or Evercore would likely serve you better if you want to be involved in the energy M&A space long-term and don't mind putting in longer hours.
Don't know much about how things are going at RBC, WF, BMO from a cultural standpoint at the moment but I would assume that the hours will generally be slightly better than the names mentioned above. Simmons focuses primarily on OFS -- heard pretty good things about the culture and hours there although deal flow could be a hit or miss. I would stay away from Lazard. I think Moelis is a better bet between the two (non-Evercore EBs).
SB given. I would also add WF Houston seems to have some brutal hours but comp and culture makes up for it. From talking to ppl there, overall seems to be a good place to be. Quick LinkedIn search would also show Upper MM PE exits have been strong
I would echo the sentiment on WF as well. Seems to fall in line from what I've heard from a post-MBA Assoc. there.
Great stuff.
What are your thoughts on BAML?
I've heard that Evercore hired a lot of people recently, particularly associates, so hours have supposedly been much better (almost easy) the past year
Do you think that trend is going to continue (are they looking to expand in Houston?), or was it a one-off thing?
How is RBC's energy group? I've heard that culture there is good, but what about deal flow, exit opps, etc?
Energy being highly capital intensive, they use their balance sheet to their advantage. Can’t speak much about their advisory presence. Although, they have the nicest office I’ve ever been in.
NY or Houston office?
Weak exit ops. Not sure on culture.
Is it a better than a place like UBS right now?
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General Moelis experience from a junior’s perspective is great. You’re a product generalist so you get exposure to M&A/Rx and other product groups. You work hard but you learn a lot.
For Houston specifically, they’re obviously not as well established as Evercore or TPH but they’ve been making moves to build out their practice and it’s been working. Over the last few years, they’ve poached MDs from a lot of the more established shops. As a bank, they’ve got strong ties to the Middle East and as far as I understand it, run all of the major energy deals out of Houston. ADNOC strategic advisory and Saudi Aramco IPO (lol rip) mandates are some examples.
They don’t have a lot of A&D deal flow yet (Jefferies still dominates that space). Moelis has been winning a lot of restructuring mandates in the industry though, and I think that’s their bread and butter.
Good, surprisingly laid back culture in the Houston office, from what I’ve heard. Incoming analyst class of 5-6.
Sources: industry experience, friends at the firm
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Interviewed there this past summer and adding on to that, they are trying to leverage their track record in creditor-side restructuring advisory to win more M&A mandates down the line. Also seem to have decent deal flow in midstream/downstream. Agreed that they seem to be growing quite a bit.
Solid analysis
My buddy is an associate at TPH. Total comp is $300-350K and typical hours are 9am - 12am with Saturdays off and half day Sunday. He gets lunch and dinner comped and they have a gym at the office. Good culture with few assholes. Lots of brainpower as they get plenty of former engineers.
Going to go out on a limb and assume you meant midnight and not noon.. lol
Ha, definitely midnight! If too many people read that they would have a stampede of analysts trying to lateral...
Any insight on how TPH recruits? Do they do OCR at McCombs and Jones(Rice)? I also know they have a good number of people from other T15 MBA programs. How do they recruit for TPH Houston?
Is that total comp for first-year Associates? I'm guessing they're base salaries are inline with the new street at 150/150/175/200?
He's a first or second year - a bit of a special case because he worked there for 2-3 years, left to go to a hedge fund, fund blew up, and he went back to IB.
I would rank as below: Tier 1: Citi, TPH, Jefferies and EVR
Tier 1b: Barcap, MS and GS
Tier 2: CS, JPM, Laz, Simmons
Tier 3: MC, RBC, WF, Scotia, BAML, UBS
Tier 4: BMO, Greenhill, HL, Baird, PJT (opening office next month)
Where's PJT's office going to be?
Barcap should definitely be tier 1 and BAML is miles better than the other banks in your Tier 3. CS is also stronger. MS should be a tier down and Lazard should be bottom tier.
Barclays was Tier 1 but haven’t been active lately.
MS had a killer year, were on multiple corporate m&a deals. Heard people got paid well this year.
CS is more ECM focused and equity markets are shutdown.
Don’t know much about Baml to be honest but haven’t seen them on any deals last year except BHP which Barcap was leading
PJT is opening an office in Houston
SB'd - agree with all points above, except maybe MS. Maybe I'm not as up to date on their deal activity in the last ~6 months, but historically, they've had a pretty strong group in Houston.
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In regards to the next 3-5 years, how to see this table shifting?
Anything official from PJT yet?
I mostly agree with this, but would also probably move Barclays up and definitely move Lazard down.
Would also put Guggenheim on there in tier 4. They have a new office in Houston that is pretty small, but I have seen them on a few things this past year.
WSO = GreekRank
From an analyst/associate perspective, Moelis should be ranked much higher:
Comp: Tier 1: (90k top bucket A1 bonus)
Exit Ops: Tier 1: (limited network in energy because the office is young, but analysts did really well this past cycle / Moelis brand also opens doors outside of energy)
Deal flow / experience: Tier 1b / Tier 2: - Historically pretty variable, but currently lead Energy & Power league tables as a result of the ADNOC deals / had strong 2019 in RX - Generalist experience (M&A / RX) > capital markets
Culture: Tier 1 (reasonable hours)
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LOL! You're hilarious.
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Most people wouldn’t be aware of them even existing. Haven’t seen them on anything ever.
Probably doing very small cap mkts and advisory A&D.
I've had a couple out-of-mandate pitches from them come my way.. E&P cap raise, downstream services, etc.
What does PJ solomon’s Office in Houston typically do?
A&D
Anyone have any experience with Intrepid or Petrie Partners?
both very elite and extremely selective
edit: was praising the firms
Why the monkey shit? The deals they do are extremely complex, and very tough to get an offer from.
Does anyone know what schools these Houston banks are recruiting from for SA and FT. What schools are considered targets for what banks?
The core Texas target schools are UT Austin, SMU, Texas A&M and Rice. Top candidates from TCU also get looks, but the path is definitely tougher than from the first four schools (generally speaking). Outside of that, a decent chunk of Houston banks will target Tulane, Vanderbilt, Emory and UVA but I haven't really heard of too many banks going over to those campuses to do OCR (obviously primarily a geographic hurdle rather than an academic one). I would expect candidates at those schools to do ~2 rounds of phone/skype interviews before being invited in for a superday in Houston. With that said, a candidate from any school that is recognized as a "national target" should be able to network their way in with a little bit of effort and as long as they have a compelling reason for "why oil & gas".
As a Vanderbilt sophomore with a 3.7 GPA, do you think I should be targeting Houston for the best chances to break into IB?
Ran into a fair amount of Vandy guys at my superdays in Houston, so it shouldnt be too difficult.
Any thoughts on MUFG’s O&G team in Houston?
Who?
Anyone have any insight on the SA 2020 recruiting timeline for Houston banks?
Have been hearing mid-summer for first rounds, but wouldn't be surprised if it moved forward
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Standard 1.5×
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capital IQ intelligence provides league tables for both capital markets and M&A, but aggregates power with o&g so is a little diluted.
Anyone know how many associates placed in Houston in the latest round? Saw in previous threads there are ~25 total associate spots in Houston. Are UT Austin and Rice Jones still the best MBA programs for Houston recruiting or has there been a shift to M7 schools?
25 sounds low. GS Houston tends to recruit from M7, for whatever reason.
There’s some Booth alum in Houston banking.
I find it hard to believe that Citi / Barclays / CS / TPH / Simmons / GS / MS / JPM / EVR / BAML / Scotia / Moelis / Jefferies only have 25 combined spots.
Total number will be >25. Here are some approximate numbers for MBA summer associates from what I have seen the past couple cycles:
Citi 5 JPM 4-5 Barclays 3 MS 3 Simmons 4-5 EVR 4 BAML 4 Moelis 3 Lazard 3
And still plenty others - CS, GS, RBC, UBS, Scotia, Wells, TPH, Jeff, etc.
What was the offer/acceptance rate, broadly speaking, among the banks you mentioned above? Curious as to what the statistics are in Houston (generally speaking). The bank I was previously with had historically offered FT for roughly ~75% of summer MBA candidates over the last few years and was more biased towards A2A or lateral A2A. We typically had classes of anywhere between 1-3 summer MBAs per year depending on forecasted anticipated hiring needs (last ~5 years).
~25 spots per year for MBA recruitment sounds about right across the Tier I and II banks in the space. I'd say roughly the same number get promoted A2A as well.
Yeah. Recruiting is never easy. I was thinking of doing the Rice MBA program as it is near the banks for ease of networking. I feel like it may be harder to stand out at UT Austin with its larger class size and increased competition for these spots.
Rice MBA placed 20 summer Associates in Houston this past cycle. UT MBA placed well, maybe slightly less. Plenty of spots in Houston.
barclays and CS are the best. after that, it's kind of unclear. Citi or Jefferies are great if you are among the top handful of analysts.
Wanted to see if anyone in here could help answer this potential interview question...
Which O+G vertical would you invest in if you had $10 million right now?
I want to say downstream/refining because of the downwards price pressure on crude + potential recession looming. Seems like the most stable vertical and the least dependent on the price of crude. Could be totally wrong, would love some advice if anyone has any insights.
Thanks.
E&P has a lot of opportunity as current administration is reducing regulations, but I would look into frontier markets for these. A lot of opportunity is coming from sub saharan Africa. Nigeria for example has tons of natural resource (Gas, Oil, and Bitumen (Oil Sands). that isnt being utilized. Of course you need to factor in that OPEC is breathing down their neck.
They also lack the proper infrastructure to refine these resources as well. Refineries are older than dirt their, and far from most of the largest reserves. Also there is a lot of interest/money flowing into the country to build what looks like a "mini manhattan' or dubai whatever they are going for.
Very interesting, thanks.
Names that stand out - might be a little stale but still mostly good:
Barclays - good in E&P in midstream. Probably best in terms of consistent deal wins. Exit opps good esp in Houston CS - typically good. Good lev fin I think. Good e&p and midstream. Exit ops good esp in Houston. Evercore - good midstream. Obvi good m&a experience. Lights out exits GS - good ofs. Not as dominant as a FIG but still has the brand. Lights out exits sometimes Citi - good e&p and midstream. Best performers have lights out exits
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bump again
Have a friend there that went to BX, think they sent some analysts to KKR a while back too. It's more about how well you do as an analyst, rather than the brand name
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