Jefferies 2022 Outlook

I can provide some background. Full disclosure, I currently work at Jefferies after lateraling from a mid-BB as an An2. This is based on my own experience.

In terms of a general firm-wide overview, I think Jefferies is really transforming from a scrappy underdog into much more of an institutionalized bank. Jefferies has expanded like crazy over the past few years through poaching seniors from other banks, and around ~25% of our MDs are in their first year, which is insane. I feel like the general perception of Jefferies still lags a few years behind, and a lot of people don't realize how big of a player Jefferies is now. Last year, Jefferies recorded nearly $1.9B in advisory fees (above Citi and Lazard, and nearly 90% that of BofA's) and $4.4B in total IB revenues (over 85% that of BofA), and Jefferies does it with a much smaller headcount than every BB. I do think Jefferies has largely outgrown the label of being an upper-MM and is now in a sort of a no-man's land (DCM practice and global presence too small to be considered a "true BB", IB revenue stream too diversified to be considered one of the "established independents" like Lazard or Evercore). Our deal flow has also scaled to be too large to be a "true" MM (Average FY-21 deal size of $1.21B, over 102 M&A transactions >$1B in FY-21, and according to our 10-K we completed $380.4B of deals in FY-21). I'm extremely optimistic about our future, and I do think that we'll continue to scale upwards (although we'll continue to be a "jack-of-all-trades" rather than a BB). Our recent partnerships with Mass Mutual and SMBC have really positioned us to expand our LevFin franchise, which is the cornerstone of our IB division. Unlike other banks, especially a lot of balance-sheet banks and BBs, we'll also live and die on our IB franchise, so IB will always be prioritized and grown.

Culture-wise, Jefferies is an interesting bank. Jefferies has grown extremely rapidly through poaching other MDs, and culture is really set by the seniors, so culture across the bank really varies by group and office. Healthcare definitely has a much more blue-blooded culture (top guys are all ex-UBS guys), and even though Lorello is gone, I hear that the strict demanding culture that he set there is still ingrained (although I came to Jefferies at the very end of Lorello's tenure). Tech varies by office, and the other groups are definitely a bit more relaxed. At the junior level, Jefferies culture is definitely very "fratty" and "work-hard, play-hard". Compared to the BB I was at, the juniors I work with now are definitely more chill as a whole and are also a bit more extroverted. 

Experience-wise, Jefferies is sweaty. There's no getting around it; to generate the revenues comparable to BBs with fewer bankers requires more hours and more work at every level. It's exasperated by the firm's growth, as senior headcount has grown rapidly and junior headcount hasn't caught up. On the flip side, junior exposure and responsibility is great. As a junior, you're often expected to "play up", and you'll definitely be getting in your deal reps and modeling experience. Personally, I have far more responsibility now than at my previous BB, and my deal exposure has been far better, especially in terms of M&A deal exposure. Jefferies also rewards you for your work and pays above the street in all-cash bonuses. There is a clawback for associates and up if you leave for a competing bank (not applicable for unrelated exits such as CorpDev or buy-side) though.

In terms of exits, Jefferies has improved tremendously over recent years, but isn't on-par with mid-BBs yet. MF is always a crapshoot, but I know of some people from Energy, Healthcare, and RX who placed to MF in the past. UMM and MM are very doable from nearly every group, and placement largely comes down to analyst background and strength. Placement at Jefferies is not on par with the BB I was at (Barcap/BofA/Citi), but is improving, and unless you're only gunning for MF or the most selective UMM firms, placement at Jefferies is nearly equal with my former BB, holding analyst background and group reputation equal. 

In terms of groups, Energy, HC, LevFin, Industrials, and Tech are the better ones. Energy and HC get the best exits (obviously with an asterisk for Energy) but have the worst cultures. Tech's culture depends on office and are overall quite good (UMM is very doable and lots of people go to reputable MM shops). Industrials has a solid culture and top MM is also very doable, and LevFin has a pretty good and chill culture. PCA isn't traditional IB, but Jefferies poached the ex-Greenhill PCA team, supposedly the best on the street, and supplemented the group with some hirings from Guggenheim and PJT, so PCA should be a strong group, although I don't know anything about PCA.

Of the other groups, REGL is fine (not a super strong group, but deal flow is still solid + you get to work on all the Fertitta deals), C&R is solid but unspectacular, and Media & Telecom should be avoided (deal flow is OK but is the weakest of all coverage groups, and culture set by the seniors is horrible). Two groups to keep an eye out for are FIG and P&U (which technically isn't its own group but is differentiated enough to count). FIG used to be one of the weaker groups, but Jefferies just poached essentially all of CS FIG as well as some seniors from JPM and Barclays, and FIG's already showing early signs of promise (heard deal flow was ramping up rapidly). The P&U team was gutted when most of the seniors left for Cantor in 2017/18, but Jefferies has reloaded with a string of solid senior hires from MS and RBC. The P&U team has definitely established a solid foundation and deal flow has picked up significantly. RX used to be a great group until the seniors left for Moelis, and really isn't a large player these days, although Jefferies did hire two PJT RSSG seniors in 2020. I honestly don't see Jefferies focusing on RX that much in the future, as RX and originating/syndicating loans are essentially opposites and Jefferies is strategically focusing on the latter. Most of their deal flow these days is on UCC mandates.

Since you're recruiting, expect the interview process to be more technical than BB interviews, but definitely easier than EB interviews. If you're interviewing for one of the regional groups, expect the process to be more rigorous. The regional offices kick off in the Spring (not completely plugged in but I believe the offices recruit around April/May) while NY recruits later in the Summer (late July/August). Once again, I'm not 100% sure as I'm not the most plugged in about recruiting, but I believe you can submit up to 2 applications. 
Lmk if I can answer any other questions, but hopefully this post was useful enough to provide a general overview of the firm.