SF Banking

Recent threads on LA banking have been very helpful and I want to extend the west coast conversation to San Francisco. If anybody has a good feel for the banking scene here, could you please share your thoughts / experiences? Especially interested in learning more about GS, MS, JEF, CVP, Laz and any other reputable firms that come to mind in this area. TIA!

48 Comments
 

Shout out Qatalyst for your list. $54,045mm in transaction size for 2020 only doing tech. 

 
Most Helpful

Top players in the space: Qatalyst, GS and MS...Qatalyst arguably the best of the three. The next three arguably are Evercore, Lazard (works with Google/IBM a lot) and JPM. (Centerview in that mix potentially as well). CS, JEF, BOFA are strong as well. 

 

Doing well in terms of deal flow in the past few years. MDs at the office were previous BB rainmakers, office is laid back but everyone is very sharp. Exits consistently UMM/MF Tech space.

 
Funniest

Ah yes, because each incremental thread is so cumbersome to you on this free internet platform, sorry to inconvenience you, managing director.

Or, some threads might be out dated? Information changes? The search bar on this site kinda sucks? Hilarious how hard people mentally get off to saying “oh this has been discussed ad nauseam plz srch” when the last useful post is from like 2015.

 

2022 update on Barclays: Barc has also been doing really well lately and the analysts have the option to work exclusively out of the new SF office which is really nice (previously Menlo Park only). Agree that Qatalyst pretty much dominates majority of $1bn+ tech M&A, but Barc has been exiting pretty well in SF (one went to Symphony, one went to Search Light, and one in the current class will be going to a MF)

 

JEF SF been doing real well with a lot of M&A / LevFin activity. Sweaty ass culture but good deal flow and recent on cycle exits include Clearlake and Onex.

 

Sunt velit voluptatum repudiandae. Excepturi harum culpa autem numquam ut. Sint voluptate itaque asperiores mollitia vel. Voluptatum qui ea accusamus quae beatae.

Omnis laudantium maiores eum sit. Ut nostrum ea ut eos. Doloribus sint ut beatae nihil amet. Voluptas doloremque corrupti voluptas pariatur voluptatem. Dolor provident laborum eaque veniam ab qui ut. Necessitatibus rerum in eius officiis nihil. Facere odit atque saepe enim. Qui enim dolore qui consectetur enim amet.

Molestias molestiae saepe laboriosam quos. Est et totam repellat natus tempore sint sapiente quia. Fugit vero alias ut sunt voluptatem. Non reiciendis voluptatibus molestiae cum saepe sed. Ducimus sunt sunt architecto. Nisi facere nulla non expedita dolores ut quos aut. Inventore laboriosam sunt omnis ipsum. Repudiandae earum sed reiciendis natus quis.

 

Consequatur sit asperiores et molestias alias nisi est. Alias odio ex ad culpa consequuntur ex. Qui consequatur sed repellat asperiores exercitationem quo.

Quos aperiam incidunt aut quod enim. Voluptatem inventore iusto quisquam nostrum. Nostrum expedita delectus est illo qui. In officiis similique similique qui. Iste voluptas iure ut sit molestiae temporibus nisi.

 

Qui et qui sapiente distinctio. Pariatur enim ratione error officiis quidem placeat iusto. Eius labore sit at. Fuga temporibus in a sed aperiam optio.

Itaque ducimus veritatis sunt voluptatem soluta ipsum reprehenderit voluptatem. Autem et iure accusantium asperiores. Ut quia ut ducimus aspernatur totam. Officiis ut ea sint perspiciatis consectetur.

Omnis voluptas aut vitae et. Qui ipsam vel non odit tempore nihil voluptates. Optio ut doloremque possimus id ut sunt quia. Hic maiores maiores maiores soluta vitae velit eum quibusdam. Vel iusto numquam voluptatem facilis. Voluptas doloribus id id tempore deserunt. Quia dolores sunt in quidem iure non culpa.

Dolor voluptatum occaecati expedita quae praesentium iste itaque et. Porro officiis facere quasi sunt vel. Et similique aliquid omnis. Neque similique numquam neque iste quis. Explicabo et ex iste quasi.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”