I am a student at a texas target (rice/UT) and will be targeting Houston for SA 2022. As COVID-19 has changed the landscape for Energy IB considerably (Canadian banks downsizing, RX-focused banks doing well, etc.) I was wondering if people couple provides a better view on the following banks in Houston:
TPH
Input about deal flow, pay, and intern class sizes would be very much appreciated from people currently in Energy IB.
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Bump. Obviously Intrepid FP (skip mcgee’s firm) isn’t on this list, but I can tell you from the analysts I know there they’ve been hella busy w rx work given their status as a smaller nimble merchant bank
One of Evercore's partners recently left for them too
Spoke with an alum when I was going through the lateral process. Was really impressed. Have a feeling because the team is so lean that the hours are probably brutal but definitely seem to be going in the right direction
Despite strong deal flow, I have heard that hours are generally not bad. I don't know if this is still true as they have gotten larger mandates
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I will bite
Evercore: Great brand name and culture. Have done a few good deals recently (Equinor Bakken divestiture, QEP / FANG merger) and been active in the restructuring space. Not too sure on pay but the firm in general pays very well so I am sure the Houston office is in line (but probably slightly below New York). Holistically, I would say Evercore, TPH and Moelis are the best places to be in Houston right now.
Jefferies: Probably have the highest ceiling of all the shops here and may be the best spot if you are interested in being in energy long term. The downside is that the current state of affairs is pretty brutal. Really sweaty, challenging culture and pay that does not compensate for the suffering (imo). That being said, they have been the best energy shop over the past 5 years so I could see them returning to glory if the space ever recovers (BIG if).
TPH: I have heard nothing but great things about TPH. PWP / TPH absolutely killed the RX game and they have had solid M&A deal flow the past 2 years in both the upstream and midstream space. I think pay is above everyone on this list besides maybe Evercore.
Citi: Do not know a ton about this group but have been decently active in past few years. They advised WPX on their merger with Devon so I guess things cannot be too bad.
GS: Sort of a mixed bag at GS Houston. On one hand they crushed it in the M&A space this year, but on the other hand I have heard TERRIBLE things about their culture. Have a few friends who used to work their and it sounds like the combination of experience (not that good despite excellent deal flow), pay (shockingly low) and senior leadership (bunch of dweebs) leaves a lot to be desired. Obviously a great name brand but I would not recommend based off what I have heard.
Barclays: Do not know much. Believe Oxy is a big client of theirs so that is exciting. Had a solid year pay wise from what I have heard.
Other banks you should also look at if interested in energy: Credit Suisse, Intrepid, Moelis, Petrie, PJT and JPM
Seems like from your experience, Jefferies and GS have the worst cultures. Do you have any idea on hours and / or stories about those groups?
Thank you for a great write-up!
do you know who was on the other side of the Equinor Bakken divestiture? I would guess Jefferies but I couldn't find out.
Also, wasn't Jefferies one of the best shops for Pay in Houston?
Did PJT recently set up shop there? Did not know they had an office in Houston.
PJT was on the other side of the Equinor deal. Jefferies paid insanely well between 2015 and 2018 but there has been serious attrition since then as a result of super long hours and relatively low pay for those hours (I believe analysts get $140 - $160). PJT's energy group is run out of new york.
EVR Houston pay is on par with other NYC coverage groups, so I’ve heard.
Side note on Moelis. They’re probably a hot name right now because of the RX work but believe they had a group of analysts leave and that culture can be tough
Thank you. Could you also add info for the banks you listed at the end?
The culture at Moelis is pretty brutal, think most second years have already left. You should be ready to work super long hours if you're going there but on the flip side you'll consistently get neat stuff to work on
Credit Suisse: Pay is in line with BBs but may be up this year as the firm has crushed the M&A scene. Heard good things overall on culture but limited data points. Mainly recommending them based off recent deal flow.
Intrepid: RX partnership with Rothschild has lead to some solid recent deal flow. Really good experience and strong culture, no data points on pay unfortunately.
Moelis: As others have alluded to, tough culture (its Moelis) but its wayyy different than a Goldman / Jefferies where the challenging culture stems from senior leadership, Moelis just has absurd deal flow for their analyst class sizes which leads to people getting crushed. They probably had the best energy RX year of all the banks and I think that advantage will hold into the future.
Petrie: Group has definitely been less active recently but used to be a huge player in the space. Not sure how hours / pay are these days but a few years ago they were both very very high.
PJT: No energy group in Houston (run out of new york), but their energy practice seems strong. Advised on the recent Equinor deal and on a few RX deals (Bruin and Southland). Obviously a great brand name.
JPM: Their lending practice has taken a huge hit but they advised on a bunch of the big M&A deals this year. Culture is pretty meh but definitely not as bad as a Goldman or RBC.
a bit late on this, but wanted to ask about thoughts on BofA's houston office esp relative to the other banks in terms of rep/deal flow/culture/exit opps/comp?
I'll also add that I've consistently heard negative things about RBC HOU's culture (ie heavy facetime requirement, super low FT conversion rate, etc) just to give you a fair warning
They just cut a ton of their people from Assoc - MD
what's the approx. number?
Is there a culture difference between Richardson Barr and the rest of RBC Houston or is it similar?
Can anybody add color to Barclays? I know they have historically had a great team but seems like they've fallen off significantly in the last two years. Did not see them on much.
Also, what is the sentiment for you guys at the moment? Not necessarily for 2021 (think we'll see some of the better assets get consolidated) but like...2-5 years ahead. As an associate these questions are swirling and its hard to have a line of sight to VP+ right now.
Barclays used to only take super connected candidates at the analyst level from what I saw. Children of energy executives or sponsors
had a strong PE pipeline but think that’s dwindled a bit
Thanks!
Was hoping to learn more about deal flow and outlook though.
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Can probably add some color on this - I worked across from them on debtor side a while back. Pretty large team in Houston (mostly engineers/technical). Logical backstory - NY Restructuring MD saw multiple downturns and said let’s make a team in Houston for O&G. Took a couple senior folk from Moelis/Evercore, and now they have one of the strongest restructuring platforms. They’re rapidly expanding their platform, which I imagine hints at their dealflow. Had a couple friends interview there after getting dropped, and there was a pretty in-depth modeling test run by a VP.
In terms of intern class, they had 4-5 last summer. Only 1 of them talked to us, and we were forsure going to give him an offer, but his timeline was so accelerated. Pretty sure all got the return because no one from there networked with us (surprising considering so many summers across the vertical got the short end of the stick).
Does the team only do RX or do they work in other verticals, too?
Considering most of the team is technical, are the interns there technical as well or are they generally finance majors? Also, is the rx work run out of Houston or does Houston merely assist MDs from NY and LA?
Anyone have an informed opinion on Simmons? (now technically a division of Piper Sandler)
Minimal deal flow and not the safest bank to be. Historically OFS focused but have struggled to grow midstream or upstream presence. Tend to do smaller MM deals
What about renewables?
From my understanding they were doing pretty well.
I liked the people I met and it seemed like they were growing which is rare with Houston IB teams. Obviously in OFS they do well but I think they hired the old Scotia A&D head as well as another MD so they are confident they can land more upstream work.
They hired 4 summer associates which is on the higher end for Houston groups. Also I heard that 2020 was going to be a record revenue year for them. I don’t have any inside sources on whether that is true or not.
Despite some other comments I think it’s a good place to end up. MDs seem very committed to internal promotions and have relationships with juniors.
This is from an associate recruiting perspective. No idea what analyst exits look like.
Thoughts on HSBC, UBS, Macquarie?
UBS is irrelevant, sort of a black hole in Houston for awhile now.
Didn’t know HSBC had an office here.
Macquarie has a few different types of groups. Their project finance/Develoment financing people are solid
Why/how is UBS irrelevant? Why does it still have an office there?
Is deal-flow looking good with WTI near 60?
Bump — would love to know more about how people are feeling about deal flow given the improving conditions.
double post
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Anyone know what banks are actually active in renewables / clean tech out of the Houston office? Heard a few talk about it, but don’t know how much is true vs lip service.
On the boutique side, TPH/Intrepid have some people in the energy tech/transformation side of things but that is new and a tiny portion of their business. For the BBs, renewables are generally run out of P&U groups in NY. I would assume the EBs run most of their renewables stuff out of NY as well.
Tbh, I’m not aware of much meaningful renewables work coming out of Houston. Maybe CS because they reorganized into broader Energy/Infra, but most of those seats are in NYC
Barclays is another bank that reorganized into a broader "Energy" group and a buddy of mine at that office has been working on some renewables stuff. Not sure if they'll actually start covering renewables out of Houston or if it's more of an opportunistic/one guy had a relationship with a renewable company type thing.
It's still mostly NY but a lot more collaboration with Houston. Their P&U group does a lot as well but that may change as the energy group becomes more combined.
What exactly does MS do in Houston? Every deal that has recently been announced is always a combo of Citi / CS / JPM / GS.
I've read a bunch about JEF paying analysts insane comp. Is that still the case or has it dropped back down to street in recent years?
Pay is definitely not what it used to be at JEF but it’s still very solid and definitely one of the better paying shops in Houston. Overall though, comp in Houston matches NYC for nearly every shop, and when you take into account the lack of state income tax, pay is very solid. Additionally, the Houston only boutiques such as TPH and Intrepid, both pay extremely well.
Have you heard of the range? I was reading that it isn't surprising to clear 200k if you do a good job for them
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