Thoughts - STRH ATL vs Wells Fargo CLT

What are your thoughts as of 2018? Read some reviews of STRH on here but seem to be a little outdated. Will be SA in coverage at STRH in a couple of weeks and was personally impressed by their team after networking with senior bankers, but have ties to Charlotte and am also considering WF for FT next year. Is Charlotte still a better city for banking assuming I want to stay in the south? How is WF's deal flow? I'm sure Levfin is still the biggest revenue generator due to balance sheet. Appreciate your input.

 

Charlotte has only Wells for BB (Bank of America packed up and moved it all to NY). There are various MMs (Jefferies, Piper) and a ton of boutiques. Wells has LevFin and Industrials in Charlotte, I believe. There's also a handful of PE shops and a few small hedge funds. Charlotte is a bit more affordable than Atlanta, IMO, and a nice town. Quite a bit smaller than Atlanta, if city size is something you care about.

 
Best Response

Overall, I would say that Wells is a better bank than STRH. Both banks leverage their balance sheet intensely and focus primarily on lev fin. Each remain strong players on the debt side, but are losing share to unregulated banks (e.g. Jefferies) and credit funds on the more interesting, riskier, and higher fee potential LBO financings.

I can't speak to Wells M&A, but STRH has always struggled to gain meaningful share on the sell-side front given its business model (lead the relationship with debt and hope to win the sell-side mandate at a later date). What this also means is that your work/life balance (and hours/pay ratio) will be top-notch for IB at a bank like STRH.

ATL/Buckhead is a much better city than Charlotte for the average 22-26 year old, but the Wells offer will likely better position you long-term given that group placement is consistent on both sides

 
throwaway.69.69:
Really appreciate your response. In terms of exits opps, what is your opinion on MM PE shops in each city? I know Georgia Oak Partners and Roark are both in Atlanta. Are there similar opportunities in Charlotte or would Wells put me on the NYC radar for PE recruitment? (of course I will network around regardless)

Never heard of Georgia Oak. Atlanta overall is a shitty city for finance, which is surprising given its Delta hub, overall size and number of businesses in the area.

Charlotte doesn't have any funds as large as Roark, but plenty that are more well received than the rest of Atlanta. The only other notable shops are MSouth (solid group, strong in HC and business services), and Fulcrum (growth equity, just okay).

As far as Charlotte, Ridgemont is a good group, as is Carousel. Can't speak to Frontier or Pamlico, but hear/see the names. Plexus is a solid mezz shop.

 

Charlotte is not terrible for banking/funds. It’s not like nyc but more similar to Dallas. Wells is a growing brand and seems pretty committed to being in Charlotte with only really ECM being the only group that is in strictly in NYC. When I was networking, it seemed in both cities had the same groups but the Charlotte had larger groups and more seniors.

The city is great considering a 2k apartment is a penthouse compared to nyc and there are are several MM and Boutiques. The uptown area is pretty nice and the whitewater center is pretty sweet. I think most of the bankers I met were pretty happy they were in Charlotte vs nyc. I know only issue is buyside recruitment in which you will have to travel unless you are looking at funds in Charlotte which is obviously far less than New York area. However, wells is super down with recruitment in my understanding and Let bankers leave to fly for recruitment.

That’s my 2 cents. I originally really wanted to be in Charlotte. My first offers were in NYC so I took one of those but had interviewed with several firms in Charlotte. PM me any questions you might have.

 

For background, I worked at WF in CLT, but don't know a ton about STRH. My opinion is that if you want to stay in the SE, I would try to work at a MM boutique bank. If you are solely between STRH and WF CLT, my guess is that WF CLT is a better job (city probably not as good though). Generally, WF CLT has pretty weak placement into PE and i know very few people there that got offers at true PE shops (in CLT and more broadly). From a work perspective, WF is very very heavy on pitching / deal flow ratio, especially coverage. Like other places, if coverage does win an M&A mandate then M&A team takes over most of the work while coverage team pitches for other deals.

People say culture is good, but most junior people hate their lives (combo of hours plus such weak deal flow). I would say people don't have a ton of pride in working for WF and a lot of the IB is mismanaged (especially Industrials group). Most analysts in Charlotte are trying to move to NY through WF or lateral, but very tough to do either. Hope that's helpful, realize it is a little bit negative.

 

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