RBS/NatWest Markets - Good place to start career?

Would you leave a MO role in a top 5 bank, with no prospects of being able to move to FO to join a FO position in RBS/NatWest Markets?

Also, does anyone have any info on the culture at RBS? (I know it has been renamed to NatWest Markets)

What is the pay like?

How is it like for Analysts? etc etc.. More interested in the opinions of those in the UK.

 

RBS is HQ in Stamford, CT (about 35 mins out of NYC via Metro North). Rumors have it that they been slowly moving more of their people to NYC but they have to keep b/t 2K-4K in Stamford to get a tax break. The people I know at RBS, Stamford are mostly MO/BO with a little sprinkling of FO. I just did a basic job search on the corporate page and here's the FO roles i found.

  • Analyst, HYD DCM
  • FX Prime Brokerage Associate (Don't hate on Prime Brokerage, still client facing, still revenue generating)
  • Global Industrials Group, Analyst
  • GTS Origination, Associate
  • FIG Analyst
  • Global Industrials Group, Associate

Hope it helps!

 

RBS is shrinking their operations in the US both as a result of pressure from the UK gov (who still holds ~80% stake since bailing them out) and in order to avoid the required stress tests from the Fed on foreign banks who surpass a certain threshold of assets in the US.

In the US they almost exclusively operate in fixed income S&T and DCM. They just sold all of their assets associated with their mortgages desk.

RBS Securities is totally separate from Citizens, which I believe they either sold or spun off, but it's possible they were only in talks to do so.

"I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."
 

RBS Is a sinking ship. Don't be fooled by their high(ish) base salaries (London £46k) - they pay small bonuses to associates (top bucket was £15k in DCM) and even smaller (if any) to analysts. I would point out that RBS has a fantastic culture and the value a work life balance, even for analysts. Be prepared for witnessing redundancies on a regular occasion - I personally know a VP who was let go 2 weeks before his wife was due to give birth.

Their newly appointed CEO (in the job for a year) is an ex-retail banker and strategy is definitely focussed on restoring the retail banking operations. RBS had a fantastic reputation pre ABN AMRO and bailout for their retail bank.

The UK media is ruthless towards RBS and flames them at every available chance.

If placed in the right group, analysts can lateral to other DCM functions in other banks.

Morale of the story - if RBS is all you have then take it. Otherwise avoid at all costs.

 

you won't get megafund interviews but RBS DCM has a solid reputation. It's one of their brighter spots I imagine you could get interviews for smaller PE funds or transfer to M&A.

 

I know someone at RBS in DCM that is currently in a top 5 B school part time. I'll be sure to let him know that you were wondering and that they have an analyst starting in the summer who already doesn't want to work there.

"I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
 
onemanwolfpack:
I know someone at RBS in DCM that is currently in a top 5 B school part time. I'll be sure to let him know that you were wondering and that they have an analyst starting in the summer who already doesn't want to work there.

lol, this is classic

"Jesus, he's like a gremlin; comes with instructions and shit"
 
onemanwolfpack:
I know someone at RBS in DCM that is currently in a top 5 B school part time. I'll be sure to let him know that you were wondering and that they have an analyst starting in the summer who already doesn't want to work there.

Haha, the pitfalls of bitching on WSO fully exposed.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
onemanwolfpack:
I know someone at RBS in DCM that is currently in a top 5 B school part time. I'll be sure to let him know that you were wondering and that they have an analyst starting in the summer who already doesn't want to work there.

douchey but hilarious

 

i still haven't figured out if it's RBS Greenwich Capital or simply RBS. I hope it's the former, I think they are pretty strong on the fixed income side.

Still have some concern in terms of whether I should do leveraged finance though. Can people comment on that?

From middle market M&A to leveraged finance at RBS, is that a step up?

 

I believe Greenwich Capital is their S&T operation. RBS would refer to the bank as a whole.

Regarding their leveraged finance: JP Morgan is the king right now, but RBS is legit in that space and has been moving up in recent years - my opinion supported by league tables.

Is it a step up? Might depend on what MM firm you're at right now. Realize you would be focusing on a product in leveraged finance, versus doing M&A deals, although the two certainly involve one another.

 
MetalJack:
I believe Greenwich Capital is their S&T operation. RBS would refer to the bank as a whole.

Regarding their leveraged finance: JP Morgan is the king right now, but RBS is legit in that space and has been moving up in recent years - my opinion supported by league tables.

Is it a step up? Might depend on what MM firm you're at right now. Realize you would be focusing on a product in leveraged finance, versus doing M&A deals, although the two certainly involve one another.

Really? Is the JPM comment North America-based or global? I thought DB was tops in FI in Europe.

RBS is a considerably stronger European presence than a North American one (naturally). If they successfully pull in ABN AMRO, they're going to be a serious force in Europe.

 

Cain - Where are you applying RBS NY or RBS London?

To say their investment banking operations is non-existant will get you immediately rejected right away. NY is much smaller, but London is a significant office. I think RBS refers to their ibank as Global Banking & Markets. They refer to their lev fin mostly as 'commercial banking', but it really is ibanking at most other places.

RBS Greenwich Capital is the CT based S&T portion which used to be Greenwich Capital. RBS is very strong in Lev Fin. They're at the top of the league tables in syndicated loans. RBS has an office in midtown NY IBD. RBS is not BB by any sense, but if you're in a top group (like lev fin) exit ops aren't bad at all. Plus, they are trying hard to get their name out.(hence their ads at airports ( Laguardia, JFK and heathrow express)

RBS isn't interested in La Salle's ibank, they want their retail presense in the midwest. They already have a presense with Citizen's Bank but LaSalle would broaden it's reach. ABN Amro's IB has certain niches that they RBS might be interested too.

Congrats on getting the interview. The step up depends on what you want to do. In Lev Fin at RBS, I doubt you'll get too invloved with M&A (besides financing M&A) so if you love M&A, it may not be worth it. However, if you want to broaden your product knowledge it's a great move so you can step up to a better bank later.

 

This is RBS-NY. Thanks for all the inputs. They are certainly appreciated. I am currently like a firm that has about 100 bankers and 1000+ brokers, with mostly a midwest reputation. I am just wondering if going into leveraged finance would be too big of a jump for me.

Any one in leveraged finance here can shed some light on this? Your background before starting in lev fin, etc?

eric809e:
Cain - Where are you applying RBS NY or RBS London?

To say their investment banking operations is non-existant will get you immediately rejected right away. NY is much smaller, but London is a significant office. I think RBS refers to their ibank as Global Banking & Markets. They refer to their lev fin mostly as 'commercial banking', but it really is ibanking at most other places.

RBS Greenwich Capital is the CT based S&T portion which used to be Greenwich Capital. RBS is very strong in Lev Fin. They're at the top of the league tables in syndicated loans. RBS has an office in midtown NY IBD. RBS is not BB by any sense, but if you're in a top group (like lev fin) exit ops aren't bad at all. Plus, they are trying hard to get their name out.(hence their ads at airports ( Laguardia, JFK and heathrow express)

RBS isn't interested in La Salle's ibank, they want their retail presense in the midwest. They already have a presense with Citizen's Bank but LaSalle would broaden it's reach. ABN Amro's IB has certain niches that they RBS might be interested too.

Congrats on getting the interview. The step up depends on what you want to do. In Lev Fin at RBS, I doubt you'll get too invloved with M&A (besides financing M&A) so if you love M&A, it may not be worth it. However, if you want to broaden your product knowledge it's a great move so you can step up to a better bank later.

 

lorican you work for rbs rofl you are screwed. And GoodBread you are an idiot, BoA only had an issue with the merger, Merrill Lynch was ripping up league tables the whole time.

RBS has been DESTROYED and its best area (debt) is not allowed to grow or rank top 5.

That is like taking your best racehorse out back and blowing its brains out. Basically that'd be like if BoA was forced to sell Merrill to Goldman at a discount.

I'm gonna guess bonuses at RBS are around 500 dollars, basically back office bonuses lol.

 

Just curious- do you work in that building... Asking for a friend.

Anyway- RBS has basically stopped its Americas business. I believe the Stamford office is just for US trading. I had thought that in the U.K. RBS was doing alright- all things considered.

Like the unadjusted- only with a little bit extra.
 

I don't. But I do live in the area. I knew that their IB group was gone, but I just read they've been cutting trade support and back office functions. Seems that the next step would be to eventually cut all operations given that they lease out a massive building here and probably occupy 15-20% of it at this point.

 

Well it's considered a BB in the UK, but the at the bottom of the BB's. And even then it's speciality is FI - not strong at equities or IBD, it gets veryy little M&A deals currently. However this is because it's had a tough few years and there's only one way for it to go - up. I wouldn't write it off, they'll be a much better chance for promotion in as growing organisation and I do think it stands a good chance of being a top player in 5 years or so.

 
jourdenne:
Well it's considered a BB in the UK, but the at the bottom of the BB's. And even then it's speciality is FI - not strong at equities or IBD, it gets veryy little M&A deals currently. However this is because it's had a tough few years and there's only one way for it to go - up. I wouldn't write it off, they'll be a much better chance for promotion in as growing organisation and I do think it stands a good chance of being a top player in 5 years or so.

The whole its had tough years and theres only room for improvement argument really worked well for Bear, Lehman, etc. RBS is still owned by the government, for all you know they can dismantle it and sell it off piece by piece. There's always room for things to get way worst in RBS.

 

Yeah I was thinking that because so much of RBS is still owned by the government, it might be a risky place for someone to work. I would guess that might make it a little harder to attract recruits...at least until they get out from under the gov a little bit.

 

Except the government has to worry about public opinion, so if suddenly the Canadian citizens start calling for a dismantling of it's IB practice, then everyone is in a tough position

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

From the league tables on the first half of 2011, it looks like RBS was relatively strong in DCM. On most of the lists they placed in the top 10. Though they didn't place anywhere in the ECM tables.

 

RBS does very few M&A deals in the U.S.- that practice is only a few years old, though. ECM is also very young- not too many deals either. Most are for converts. They're a debt shop- they kill it in DCM and Loan Markets. Analysts most certainly get cash bonuses, not shabby ones either. Good S&T, particularly fixed income and MBS (they've got the old Bear desk, HUGE % of P&L for the firm).

Great place though- very nice people. I wouldn't worry about the gov't ownership. Gotta work in Stamford, however (albeit in a beautiful building)...

RBS UK is solid in M&A. Much more well-rounded/highly regarded overseas (that is in terms of deals and profitability, not so much overall being as they were the UK's Citi, but worse).

 

Outside of FI and DCM, RBS are a non-entity in the UK.

No bonus as a 1st year and much lower going into 2-3rd years. Remuneration much, much below the street and no positive outlook going forward. I've heard of plenty of defections both at junior and senior levels.

Source is my girlfriend: a former RBS banker.

 
London George:
Outside of FI and DCM, RBS are a non-entity in the UK.

No bonus as a 1st year and much lower going into 2-3rd years. Remuneration much, much below the street and no positive outlook going forward. I've heard of plenty of defections both at junior and senior levels.

Source is my girlfriend: a former RBS banker.

No bonus at all for a 1st year analyst? How is that possible, must have higher turnover rate..

 
TheKid1:
London George:
Outside of FI and DCM, RBS are a non-entity in the UK.

No bonus as a 1st year and much lower going into 2-3rd years. Remuneration much, much below the street and no positive outlook going forward. I've heard of plenty of defections both at junior and senior levels.

Source is my girlfriend: a former RBS banker.

No bonus at all for a 1st year analyst? How is that possible, must have higher turnover rate..

Above street base. They're trying to paint the picture of the responsible banker.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

What the hell does this division do?

From my limited knowledge of this division, it seems as tho they advise and help finance clients

  • MBO's

  • Leveraged Acquisitions

Would i be correct in saying that?

--------------------------------------------------------------------- "The future belongs to those who prepare for it today" - Malcolm X
 
Best Response

Think about the challenges facing RBS. First it's STILL in the middle of the ABN merger. With Fortis (a member of the consortium) being bailed out, there will be complications, further delays and more problems.

Secondly, UK banks are not doing so well. The UK had a very inflated mortgage market, with many "buy-to-let" mortgages not performing. HBOS has seen its stock drop precipitously until the Lloyds merger. Bradford & Bingley & Northern Rock illustrate the problems in the mortgage market.

RBS is also exposed in the leveraged loan market. They're huge in the market. That was a great thing, now investors need to evaluate the loan portfolio and assess what it really is worth.

Interbank funding pressures and strains are also a concern. LIBOR has continued to rise, 3 month LIBOR is at 3.88% despite fed funds target being 2.00%. The lack of liquidity in the interbank market will certainly affect the amount of lending and the revenues of RBS.

32% is a lot to lose in a day. But hopefully these are some reasons to why the stock has fallen.

 

I think he is doing so with this very thread. Is there anything illegitimate about that considering this place is full of experts that might be able to answer his question?

 

Because they're the best in the business.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

I think the media is making things look worse than they actually are.

Nevertheless, there's a big chance that the equity department will not hold, as this is something that RBS is quite explicit on. Whether this is a problem for anyone joining that specific department? I don't know... Could well be that another bank buys the entire equity part and that you'll soon have a new employer, but that you'll still have the same job you applied for. Remember, this could also mean that a top-tier bank expands its equity department by buying that of RBS (This is for instance how Blankfein got at GS), so in the end you could be better off.

For other product groups within I-banking, I don't think that the problems are that bad, especially at DCM. Just consider that you're joining the bank on the worst moment and that things can only get better from here. Just try not to become too pessismistic by reading stuff on the internet as reporters often have the incentive to amplify problems in order to attract readers.

 

^ what this guy said.

it also seems to be a general understanding that the news is aimed primarily at the mass public. and these large headlines of 10000 job cuts etc seems to be a PR exercise just to "show the public that the bankers are paying for their sins". Well I hope atleast...

anyone have any insight? any contacts within RBS GBM? what is the mood like there?

 

Still there have been suggestions that the businesses will in fact close, rather me sold? Is it possible that these businesses actually have no value at all? I'm highly dubious of that. would new grads be up for a redundancy package in this instance?

 

well they offered to relocate more or less anywhere, depending on what they could find. they mentioned hk, spore and london. but given there is no m&A, no ecm, no equities research, no equities sales and trading...there is not a lot of IB left. So it's looking like the debt side. they are going to get back to grads by the end of the week with some firmer options on the table, depending on indicated preferences. fyi, i had an M&A role.

 

Any of you guys have news regarding the rumoured MBO of the M&A business? Currently have a MergerMarket alert on RBS, but nothing new on that subject during last week...

Anyway, friend of mine (2nd year analyst IBD) says that there's going to be more info this Friday.

 

id choose london over the asian places any day of the week, given all else the same. here's hoping for an MBO then! maybe they will still want the grads? id go with them for sure.

 

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