bofa levfin charlotte is a nightmare, way more hours, insane staffin, brutal seniors without the prestige and buyside recruiting of nyc levfin

MPC
 

If this is NYC (in no particular order obviously, also can fluctuate greatly based on group):

BAML, RBC, JPM, Baird, Barclays, STRH, Blair, EVR

I'm definitely missing some others but those are the major one's most known for "culture"

 

I echo the sentiment that it really varies by group. I found that there is an overarching culture at a bank but then the per group culture can be quite different.

For example: The overarching culture of BAML is thought to be a bit nicer, a bit fratty than average. However, the M&A team at BofA has a vastly different culture than the E&P team or the GIG team.

 

RBC is very group dependent. M&A has a terrible culture. LevFin is decent. PU&I has some good and some really insufferable folks. 

 

Second this. RBC culture depends on which group you are in. For instance, certain coverage groups like Real Estate and Industrials are not known for culture from top down. Although the juniors have a good comradery.

 

It would be hilarious if there were that one analyst (flyby21) who previously posted such an ingratiating post about the firm six months ago.

 

What do you think are the best teams to try to network into for a sa (for experience and culture)?

 

M&A and Industrials - LevFin was the bread and butter but not a great environment for that. That's what I'd stick to as an analyst. There are other coverage groups that I would consider at a more senior level but they have a massive disparity between the competence of the seniors, who were largely poached from BBs, and the analysts who essentially didn't make it to the upper-tier BBs and elite boutiques.

 
Controversial

Barclays - genuine, extremely down to earth, nice people Goldman - nice, maybe kinda dorky/awkward JPM - Very mixed, a few ridiculous d bags sprinkled in, heard toxic stories (cussing out analysts) MS - Nicer, some fun and chill people but still several hardos, semi stuffy BofA - Solid, nice people Evercore - wide range, but had some terrible conversations, elitism Moelis - really nice group of guys without egos, gym rats

 

From recruiting at Houston banks, all seem to be pretty good on culture (ignoring differing workloads, I’m don’t know much about how works at most). Compared to NYC, they tend to have more of a southern and more collegial culture. I also know many of the analysts and interns were in the same fraternities at their respective schools.

 

Houston banks for the most part are all pretty laid back with similar cultures. MS and Barclays in my opinion were the most laid back and chill people wise. However, each bank had their distinct culture but no Houston bank in my opinion were full of hard asses.

 

Barclays - agree

GS - can be elitist, most people are from east coast schools rather than texas/southern schools, so a very different culture than other Houston banks, quite a bit more elitist than they deserve to be given their place on the energy league tables tbh

JPM - agree, seems like a weird place right now culturally

MS - agree

BofA - agree

EVR - disagree a bit, come off as more hyper type A than elitist

Moelis - agree

LAZ - really nice people, can be a bit stuffy, really sharp team

TPH - very chill, very passionate about energy, gives off Rice undergrad vibes if you're familiar with that

JEF - people who just love to work really really hard, very down to earth and kind

RBC - extremely chill, feels like a close-knit family a bit, Scott Richardson (founder of their very successful A&D shop) is always walking the halls

Citi - very fratty, wide range of people given how big their shop is

Simmons - extremely chill, bro city (but in a good way), fun people

 

I signed with the "real answer" for that reason. MDs took me under their wing and cared about me as a person. I am hoping to get the same vibes when I start.

 

Sophomore here, only going based off of people I've networked one (all NY)

BAML (by far one of the best cultures ever - have spoken with 10-12 people there, all VERY chill, down to Earth, willing to go out of their way)

RBC

MS

Low on culture would be Citi in my opinion. Felt the pressure and stress when networking with individuals there, very uptight, not a personal fit. Others might think otherwise which is totally fine

 
Most Helpful

Below is 100% factual:

Goldman kids tend to be culty hardos

MS is fratty af in a northeastern WASP-y kind of way (not an antebellum kind of way)

JPM is meh. Kind of "aw shucks" in terms of their bankers. shame really.

PJT RSSG is nerdy + nice, PJT M&A is fratty + chill

Evercore is fine. Lazard is all kinds of fucked up. Moelis is for hardos.

CS just seems kind of douche-y from my experience. Hard to explain why, just an overwhelming stench about the place.

Nobody knows or cares about Citi or BAML

I actually really like the guys at DB and Barclays

UBS is whatev

Wells Fargo = adorably out of the loop

Harris Williams analysts roam around the streets of Richmond in packs of no less than 8. They were all SAEs at various mid atlantic schools. Fratty in an antebellum kind of way.

Blair and Baird are cool.

EDIT: Cleaned up some stuff above and added ome more below. Probably says something that I forgot about these guys (not sure what though...)

RBC = your friendly neighborhood Canadians. Distinctly not douchey, which is honestly kind of boring

BMO is kids who browse WSO, personified

Jefferies as an institution has a massive chip on its shoulder is home to the worst kind of finance hardo (you all know the type)

I don't think Centerview actually exists.

Lincoln has a bunch of nice Big 10 dudes who have no qualms about working you to death

Really like the people at Normura

Piper Jaffray = absolute clown show

Houlihan has pretty nerdy junior and absolute degenerate senior people. Must be a weird coexistence.

 

they're just average and don't really stand out much. reason why JP does well is because they have so much manpower but their employees weren't your standout candidates or the best and brightest.

edit: lol MS all you want, we know you're going to JP if you MS this

 

Agreed, JPM is all about the balance sheet. Have seen some surprising candidates from my uni and less than stellar analysts accepted into JPM.

 

While I don’t doubt JPM may have been “meh” pre crisis, as a current IB analyst I can assure you these takes are sorely dated.

Like all banks, culture varies widely across groups, but I’ve found that there’s a distinct scrappiness at all levels in my own group and the groups I’ve worked alongside. Seniors are laser focused on continuing to win market share and expect juniors to make insightful contributions beyond just churning pages. The downside of this is of course some long weeks. In terms of talent, the league tables speak for our seniors, and I’m skeptical of the notion that there are any significant differences in analyst talent across top banks (high schoolers reading this - your world may be turned upside down to learn that I've seen UBS juniors regularly eviscerate their GS counterparts). JPM is littered with summa cum laude Ivy graduates and has crushed buyside recruiting for at least the past two years if you want to look at it based on WSO's usual proxies.

I won’t claim to have divined the firm of anyone on this thread, but I find seemingly insecure MS bankers often fixate on bashing JPM. This is likely driven by JPM’s continued dominance in the capital markets and passage into the #2 spot in M&A. Meanwhile, MS has found itself in the throes of an identity crisis with a feckless CEO at the helm in Gorman. Its juniors hide behind a thin veneer of bygone WASP culture as they scour WSO for opportunities to assert that “it’s really still MS/GS and not GS/MS/JPM”. Alas, at least MS has generated some nice fees for JPM as it plays catch-up in the retail arena (@ETrade sale).

 

GS / MS has always been in the #1 and #2 spot for M&A.

JPM just relies on its balance sheet and now you see insecure analysts coming here to rant about how they are better than GS and MS...

 

+1 to Macquarie. The people I've met there as a market counterparty seem to be quite down to earth, and it seems the people really like their colleagues. +1 to William Blair. The people there all seem quite nice as well. Down to earth, hard working, but with rounded elbows.
I have found MS, GS and BAML to be far more sharp elbowed. It's not every person, mind you, but enough sharks swimming around those ponds that it would give me pause from a cultural perspective. UBS and CS seem to be lacking a cohesive culture altogether,so each team is more likely to have a sub-culture that would dictate your experience much more than some overarching firm culture.

 

agree with this, out of the 2 I would say both are friendly/welcoming but Barclays seems a little more chill whereas there is a kind of cutthroat vibe at BAML

 

Barclays has the most cohesive and all around best culture out of the BBs in my experience. BAML, DB, JPM have many groups with great culture, but also many with poor culture.

 

Does Barclays having good culture also mean better lifestyle?

 

not op but barclays is known for having the least facetime + best lifestyle from kids I know going there FT. still some groups with tough hours like industrials and tech but that's due to dealflow, not insane MDs afaik. i've heard of groups with good hours at MS and JPM but it seems to be the norm at Barclays.

 

All of the below is for RX in NY, don't know enough to speak to other groups. Worked at one of these so only speaking 3rd person to keep anonymous.

PJT: Very good culture, everyone I know happy with the experience. Somewhat bookish / nerdy for lack of a better term. Some of the nicest people you'll come across. No real facetime.

Lazard: Reasonably sweaty compared to the others. Some senior people seem to be stuck in the old-school Lazard culture, which probably drives the sweatiness. All that being said, I have a high opinion of their analysts generally and they seem to like it.

HL: Similar to PJT though people are a little more on the fratty end of the spectrum. Sweaty at times but no real facetime. Have heard anecdotally that LA is worse than NY but somebody correct me if that's wrong.

Moelis: Improving slowly but surely. Still would not be my top choice but it's no longer a place that should hold the stigma it earned it the past.

Evercore: Like PJT but longer hours. Seems to be understaffed at the junior level. People are really smart.

Greenhill: Surprisingly good given that Augustine was known to crack the whip at Rothschild. I don't want to say no facetime but certainly less than most firms.

 

Good friend was an SA there last year. Did not report back a positive experience and is going to another bank for FT

 

Worlds apart from what half the group was like under Augustine (the other half was always fine). He fortunately took the craziness with him.

 

I got an offer from HL RX but felt like the junior culture was a bit...bland/boring? Definitely some weird vibes too. Ended up going with a mid BB over it because I liked the people a lot more – obviously hard to tell only over interviews though.

Array
 

Baird and Blair are awesome--simply nice, good people.

Moelis is a great group as well, very down to earth, no egos.

Citi is a little more fratty, they hang out together. Fun group.

Lincoln has nice folks, lots of midwesterners, churning deals. Obviously from a work standpoint they don't have the same reputation for time off and stuff as some of the others.

BMO has become sort of a mess. There was a thread on here not long ago detailing some issues.

Many of the other BBs are too small and spotty to assign cultures to, or I don't have first-hand knowledge so will refrain.

 

Can add some more Chicago names to the above.

  • Goldman - has FIG, Industrials and Tech Business Services (newly formed) groups. Sounds like tough hours, and some of the senior bankers have offices in NYC as well (aka very little senior banker exposure for Chicago juniors). Don't have very recent info, but does not sound like an easy culture. Friend of mine left from there ~1.5-2 years ago

  • Barclays - has a generalist analyst program across Tech, Sponsors and Industrials. Have a few friends who work/used to work there and say that culture is top notch. Strong senior banker representation and tremendous deal flow. Not sure of hours/facetime though

  • HL - has several groups, including food & bev and healthcare. Culture seems to be very group-dependent. Have anecdotally heard that some groups are okay, while others are absolutely brutal. I unfortunately do not have insight into which groups are the luckier ones

  • Evercore - very small office (I believe around 10-15 bankers) and solid deal deal flow. Sounds like a pretty vanilla culture, but others may be better informed. They mainly do industrials deals

  • MS - office is basically done. VPs and up only beginning this summer. I believe there are still some juniors left there, but are slowly being phased out to NYC.

 

There was a post like last week explaining that banks don't really have cultures, groups do, and yet we still have this question every other day......that being said from personal experience and friends who work in these groups

  • BAML Lev Fin - dependent on deal team but overall ok culture, kind of intense, strong deal flow = LOTS of work
  • BAML FIG - some crazy seniors but good juniors
  • BAML C&R - LOTS of work, and not in a good way....info is a little dated tho
  • BAML M&A - borderline sweatshop, but it is M&A so comes with the teritory, great juniors, a little fratty
  • BAML E&P - good people top to bottom, but a few bad apples that give uncessary work, lots of work
  • GS TMT - massive team, deal flow = lots of work, not the most personable people overall but groups big enough that you'll find your type of people
  • GS NR - see BAML FIG
  • GS C&R - work had play hard, chill people
  • CS M&A - see BAML M&A but more chill
  • Barc. Industrials - my mentor left as an associate 2, 2/3am nights were the norm, he didn't like the seniors, lots of pitches when he was there, dated info
  • Citi M&A - see CS M&A, no face time
  • Citi M&T - sweatshop, great people tho
  • Cit Sponsors - diverse set of backgrounds top to bottom, similar to BAML Lev Fin but much smaller
  • Citi Tech - you're either a fit and you'll love it, or you're not and you'll hate it, no in between
  • Citi Industrials - GS TMT size wih GS C&R culture
  • Citi Power - chill juniors, work hard play hard
  • Citi RE - see GS C&R, laid back seniors and juniors
  • Jefferies HC - fratty lol
  • JPM FIG - sweatshop
  • JPM TMT - NYC has GS TMT size with Citit Tech culture, my friends did not enjoy their time their, SF Tech is a sweatshop and juniors are depressed
  • JPM Energy - waspy

MS, RBC, Moelis - what's been posted already is what I've heard also, unfortunately I don't have any first hand info.

At the end of the day go where you're wanted. If people at a bank like you and everyone seems to want to help you, go there.

 

Definitely didn’t mean to imply teams aren’t close — especially at the analyst level, people are legitimately friends with coworkers outside of work. Your average employee is a bit more bookish, there’s not a ‘junior hazing’ / (or as much of a) ‘earn your stripes’ culture, and people generally don’t come off as typical “finance bro” (relative to other banks' employees, at least) So yes, certainly less boisterous — probably less crazy stories per capita than most other banks — but at the end of the day, it’s still a bunch of well-paid, highly stressed younger people looking to blow off steam, so you can still get your share of antics if you wish.

Demographically, the firm is more female, Asian, and Canadian than most, which may play a role — though the three wildest, “frattiest” people I know at the firm each fit 1 or more of the above descriptors, so what do I know...

 

M-Th. Floors clear out at 6 or 7 on Fridays. Some people go home and finish up there, but I'd say by 9PM the vast majority of people are done working for the day. Saturdays are usually clear; Sundays a mixed bag but people generally don't go in (even if they have a few hours from home).

If you're on a a difficult / urgent assignment all bets are off, of course.

 

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