Most cutthroat groups on the street

Why is this funny? Feeling stupid rn lol

guys the group is dying, oil and gas in Houston was hurting since last year pre all these oil issues. google it

I remember when I was recruiting, one of the associates told me he chose Jefferies for dealflow over culture.
He said with a smirk that it didn't matter to him if he doesn't like his co-workers and that friction exists anywhere you go. Huge red flag for me that signaled toxic work culture.

Used to work JEF houston.

Name another place where first year analysts made close to half $1mm and associates $1mm.... that’s all you really need to know. Ya those people worked for that money and ya it was not a jolly good time, but I’ve never heard of anyone making that dough at a bank.

Those are real numbers. JEF used to have an edge (2010-2015) when it had the best / only good technical O&G team and relationships with every PE sponsor, sold every private Co in Permian. JEF really did control that market and still largely does even though its dead. Paid its employees very well until very recently. Lot has changed there but still exceptionally smart people and culture of working hard and producing the best materials will stick.

The current problem in O&G largely created by JEF to begin with because JEF sold all the assets with juiced engineering parameters and that became industry trend until it was time to go cash flow positive and everyone’s cost basis was too high.

Industry was toast before corona virus and now it’s clear the emperor has no clothes.

But for close to a decade it was really like that. Part of me misses it.

i think that's the nature of restructuring in general. way less bs.

This. Especially at the senior level RX can get intense. First of all, clients are a lot less happy. No company wants to be working with you. As opposed to M&A where the deal ends with a win, RX ends with almost every party losing something and it’s a zero sum game. Theres also the potential for liability. Sr people can get deposed to testify about valuations or liquidation numbers etc and you have to be able to justify everything. Even at the junior level people seem to fall in one of two buckets - either more nerdy or cutthroat

Any insight on groups at MS London on which has Cut throat and Sweatshop culture?

lol

You can see em slithering all the way from Page Mill Rd

I don't know if this is a running meme or reference here that I'm missing, but it's fucking true.

Lmao what, my friend is in FIG there, yes they get worked but they’re one of the top FIG groups in the street (aside from GS)

heard some wild stories from this group man

thinking about it, idk if I've ever heard anyone praise BMO's culture

Agreed, M&M is a sweatshop with toxic co-workers. However, it does provide a good deal experience

Worked in that group about five years ago. Terribly demoralizing and toxic culture. There was this one Analyst that would leave sticky notes with rape threats in the desks for new joiners.

Analysts get worked hard but the culture is actually really good. Great people across the board

Really liked the analysts that I've spoken to there - seem very willing to help out

Moelis Houston is not Moelis NY; had nothing but pleasant interactions with the Houston Moelis folks; solid culture. Smart group but not pompous and pretentious.

On the other hand, my interations with people at Citi, WF, TPH, Scotia, GH, Gugg, GS...not so pleasant.

Second this, it’s got incredible reputation on this site but my buddy (who is one of the most hardcore people I know) had to exit early due to personal health reasons

lol dont think sf is much better..https://www.businessinsider.com/sarvshreshth-gupta-death-ruled-suicide-…

yeah, heard the hours out there are ridiculous

yeah, heard the hours out there are ridiculous

There is a lot of lip service in the group (particularly NY, but think its a "goal" across both offices) about improving culture and junior work life balance, but haven't seen it fully implemented. Majority of the MDs and VPs don't really care at the end of the day as they know the analysts are going to leave at the end of two years (if not sooner). Associates in the group probably get the worst of it, since they're dealing with jaded analysts (who at least are getting great exits) and then get a lot of VP bitch work pushed down to them by them since every VP is gunning to make MD in the group and only wants to focus on client facing work. They obviously do well, but its pretty crazy that they sustain it, given how much turnover there is

haha. I had to look it up to learn what Karen means

For those who were as clueless as me:

Karen: a white middle-aged woman, typically American, who displays aggressive behavior when she is obstructed from getting her way; such women are often depicted as demanding to "speak to the manager" and having a variation of the bob cut

Have friends in GS Industrials and colleagues who used to work for them too. Can confirm that it gets brutal. Junior people (VP and down) sound like half of them are cool and are in the trenches with you while the other half of people I hear about will throw people under the bus. Outside of that, it's super sweaty, worst hours of my friend group (between CS/Barclays/JPM/EVR/Moelis/PJT)

GS NR doesn't seem cutthroat necessarily, but the culture is very stiff / formal. They were the only group to not implement a casual Friday in NY before the broader shift in dress code for the firm. It is probably in the bottom bucket of industry teams from a fee / league table perspective (NR isn't really GS' forte), which probably drives part of the issue

GS IND is brutal for junior people - MD and VP level are fully aware of how bad the situation is, but no one cares enough to try and do anything. The junior team ends up bonding pretty well and generally is a good group of people, but always get crushed. Exits can be good (recent classes have done particularly well), but seem inconsistent

How much power does HR have to fire MD/ED (especially if they are rainmakers)?

I keep hearing that Jefferies culture is super fratty, is that what leads people to say its cutthroat? Because in terms of pure sweatiness I have heard far worse about EBs

CS sponsors and levfin & restructuring are known for having great cultures. Sponsors hours are amazing relative to other banking groups and they take no face-time very seriously. Heard it can be kinda douchey sometimes lol

LevFin & restructuring also pushes no face-time but it’s harder to limit hours because the group is run leaner than sponsors. Friend says the group is all very tight and humble (even seniors).