Anyone familiar with the tech investment banking practice at Mizuho? Seem to have a lot of momentum with the recent hire of Michal Katz and are adding folks. Have seen a lot of ASO and Analyst postings and will be attending a super day soon.
Any insight on firm culture, comp, career progression would be much appreciated.
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Any self-respecting banker would rather stab themselves in the eye than even consider interviewing for Mizuho. Why do you think there are so many positions available? Better yet, why would they even give YOU a superday?
TLDR: You suck
It's nice they give the developmentally disabled an internet connection nowadays.
Solid shop, avg street comp
Got it, thanks
Bump- is the TMT team doing more M&A these days?
Interested to hear any updates. Last I talked to these guys it was still mainly a debt shop with no real M&A going on but know they've been hiring
Yeah, It was my understanding they're building a strong team around M&A but no clue
during my interview they said they are growing their m&a space with tmt and stuff so yea
Was this for a full time position or SA?
.
Familiar with tech coverage. Never once have i ever ran across mizuho as even a 7th place bookrunner on an IPO, or a co-advisor on any tech M&A deal that we were either pitching for or advising on as co-advisors for the other side
Not sure why the monkey shit as this is accurate
Because nowadays kids like to be told powder puff truths rather than just hearing the facts as they are. It’s all relative and depends what you’re looking for
Bump, curious to hear if you accepted. Also interested in learning more about the TMT team at Mizuho
I'd feel amazing about marketing a tech company such as WeWork that has negative cashflows but is perfectly priced in as if it were going to be the next google. Can't wait for these tech companies to hit the bucket
Bump. Any insight on their Strategic Solutions Group (not sure exactly what it is, saw a lot of openings a while ago) and industrials as well?
Very curious about SSG group as well. It did not exist when I worked there.
I used to work in a different group there, so my observations and insights are firsthand but are 3 or 4 years stale.
There are 2 separate teams.
The TMT team that is based in NYC is pretty strong in TMT bond and syndicated loan deals. Occasionally will be thrown a co-manager bone on an IPO or follow-on equity offering with de minimis economics for companies they have been in the revolver for. This group was not sexy M&A investment banking advisory but was where the bulk of the North American TMT-related fees at the firm came from. In terms of the work this group does, I would say its ~85% corporate banking / 15% investment banking. The junior people right out of school were paid a little below IB street. a lot of the more senior people who had been there for a while were grandfathered in to comp packages from before the firm started trying to hire investment bankers so were being paid significantly below IB street as they were hired to be corporate bankers. Given the lending angle of this team, there is moderate interference / involvement from Tokyo, which is a pain in the ass (anyone who has worked at any Japanese company in the US can probably attest to this)
The second group is the Tech Investment Banking group that is based in San Francisco. When I was there, this team was headed by an Ex. Barclays Tech banker. The senior guys on this team ranged from "somewhat impressive backgrounds / capable" on the high end to "were thrown out of a BB for being incapable" on the low-end. In my day, the main IB transaction work these guys did was support acquisition finance / sponsors on tech-related LBO transactions. They did a lot of traditional IB pitching but not a whole lot of deals. There's been a lot of turnover since I was there at the senior levels and I think they've actually brought in a few deals. That being said, the most common analyst exit opp to lateralling to other investment banks, which I would say is a bad sign. Given the lack of lending done from this team, there is minimal interference / involvement from Tokyo, which is always a positive.
Overall Takeaways: Tech group in San Fran is real IB but you will do a lot of pitching and not much real M&A work. TMT in New York is corporate banking with a splash of IB. In either group, you should be able to learn the skills necessary to lateral to a stronger platform within a 1 to 2 years. That being said, you will be underpaid while you are there.
Can attest to above. Believe the head guy in the sf office is still there. Heard hours have been absolutely brutal for both analysts and associates, working till 3am most days. Think carefully if this is the group for you. If you want your foot in the door into tech ib, then not a bad option. But, if you value other things like “better” wlb, closing deals and are not so tied to tech, I’d recommend to look elsewhere. Think of it as a new shop making a name for itself despite the Japanese angle which they try not to emphasize.
This was my takeaway as well after talking to a few people in the NY office for TMT. Like you said sounded mostly like corporate banking for large semi companies. Which is fine for CB because those companies require large checks to be a player in the RCF and issue frequently on the bond side. One of the analysts when I pushed him on the work said they were a debt shop. At the time I was in CB so they were interested in hiring me but was looking for M&A experience and to get away from the financing work so I passed.
Seemed like cool people, but at the end of the day in the US Mizuho IB is more like corporate banking. With my experience with Mizuho in another industry in the US that’s how it is. At times they can be pretty aggressive with the balance sheet underwriting loans in order to capture some more DCM fees but never saw them on any M&A in my industry
Think you're the first person to call Mizuho aggressive since like 2009 lol. If you're too young to remember, google Mizuho Aardvark CDO.
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