Who can speak to the culture of the CS LFO&R group? Curious to hear from those who have been in the group or are close to someone who’s been in the group. Hours, attitude toward PE recruiting, etc.
Thanks
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It’s a top Lev Fin group, so naturally the hours are pretty tough. But from what I’ve heard, there are groups at CS with much worse hours (M&A, GIG, etc).
LFO&R is very technical, probably moreso than any other Lev Fin groups on the street. Very execution focused with strong deal flow, so you get a lot of reps working on unique transactions.
Great PE placement, free to recruit (common within CS). Im not in the group, but have a couple of close friends who went through it and left to great funds.
CS Lev Fin is definitely not considered a top lev fin team if you look at the book runner ranking from 2018. U.S. top 3 is BAML, JPM, WF and Global is JPM, BAML, WF. CS is ranked 5 in both U.S. and global. However, roughly on par with GS and Barclays in both U.S. and global offering. This is taken account in both loan syndication and bond offerings combined. I'm not sure about the restructuring capacity of CS, I don't know if they do things in house or not. Technically, my team work out of deals on our own by not sending it to a special situation team, however we still hire consultants and restructuring firms to work on it.
Abl teams typically manage their own workouts because they are much more straight forward than say a tlb restructuring. It's basically do another inventory appraisal and throw in another reserve.
Very different from being the agent for the tlb with a million clos trying not to get pennies on the dollar for their principal.
any chance you can speak to the culture/exits/ most respected groups at CS ?
Sure. Again, this is 2nd hand knowledge from good friends I’ve had within the bank, so take it for what it is.
Sponsors & Lev fin (Two separate groups but I’ll put them in the same bucket) — Have heard Sponsors hours are slightly better (hard to confirm but probably true because Lev Fin has a smaller headcount). Have also heard Lev Fin bonus slightly higher on avg due to high revenue generated / low headcount. Both groups seem to have good ppl/less FaceTime and more focus on meritocracy. Both have great placement into top PE shops/credit funds.
TMT — Don’t know anyone that’s been in this group, but have heard it’s usually considered a top group at the firm.
M&A — Know some people that went through this group. They all got absolutely destroyed. Really tough hours, (obviously) unpredictable schedule, and very intense culture and upper management. But, that being said, you’ll leave with a strong skill set. If you can take the punishment for 2 years, you’ll be very marketable. Most go MM PE
I’m looking specifically at Core Lev Fin League Tables (DealLogic), which account for institutional leverage, high yield bonds, etc (most directly associated with the responsibilities of IBCM Lev Fin Groups).
CS was #1 in both total revenue and # of deals from 2010-2017. #2 in 2018, behind JPM in total revenue, but not deal volume.
I was just looking at the internal deck that we got early Q1 2019 with league table across all products and etc. Probably because it included both loan syndication and bond offerings. While dealogic probably just bond offering.
Q1 2019 when its only mid march... More like YTD which obviously isn't relevant given the short period of time elapsed and some deals close right before the new year and others right after.
Again, Core Lev Fin also accounts for institutional leverage and is specifically tailored to represent the efforts of IBCM Lev Fin groups. Keep in mind that your internal deck league tables may be showing whatever rankings make your bank look the best lol. Our internal deck uses a different league table “Lev Fin” category as well to make our bank look better. But, it is known that core lev fin is a more accurate depiction.
Also tells you why Wells would be shown in your top 3, whereas in core lev fin rankings, they are nowhere near the top. If you’re familiar with Lev fin (strictly within IBCM) at Wells, you’d know that they are definitely not a top 3 group on the street lol. Not that they are bad, but the firm is extremely conservative and has very strict leverage caps that keep it out of competitive processes.
If you have access to deal logic, you should look through those ranking. Also forgot to mention that CS Lev Fin’s SoW has been between ~9-13% over the past 10 + years — which is huge
Awesome, thanks for the responses.
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Which other BB's LevFin groups would be on par with CS?
BAML and JPM. But keep in mind JPM is more capital markets focused (I.e. the group doesn’t hold pen on models). Not sure about BAML but based off of their exits, I’d assume it’s a group that functions like CS
I would really like to get an internship (or a FT obviously) at a LevFin group (especially for one of those BB you named, CS/BAML/JPM), however, how would I go about apply'ing specifically for this specific 'niche' group. Most banks only offer internships positions/summer analyst for 'investment banking'.
Lev Fin is a product group within the investment bank. So you’d get a normal investment banking summer analyst position, and then you’d recruit for lev fin specifically (just as you would for M&A or any other group).
That’s how it works for my bank, at least. I’m sure there are also ways to get direct offers.
Alright, and when apply'ing to an IB summer analyst position, would it be smart/wise to already hint/specify my interest in Leverage Finance specifically, and not so much M&A?
(Burner account)
One other thing to note here... very important to consider the implications of Credit Suisse being a top Lev Fin player, despite not having a massive balance sheet like JPM and BAML.
The fact that CS kills the lev fin league tables without being able to completely throw money around and provide endless committed financing like JPM & BAML do, implies that they are adding significant value elsewhere. That value comes from the groups ability to execute extremely complex and unique processes. The group understands the product better than any other group on the Street and has an incredibly impressive track record. The fact that they can beat out BAML and JPM with a fraction of the balance sheet says a lot about the caliber of the CS Lev Fin
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