Infra IB - Agentis Capital?

Hi all - I wonder if anybody has an opinion/knowledge about Agentis Capital Infra team in Toronto?

I heard about them during a coffee chat but it's been tough to find much info. Thanks!

 

They focus on infrastructure advisory with offices in Vancouver and Toronto. From what I've heard, they really work their analysts and are extremely thorough in their modelling, but they are also a well respected shop and pretty active in terms of deals. Their senior leadership seems interesting... there are three partners but I think one of them leads the IBD practice and the others aren't really too involved in IB. Not too sure about comp and exit opps, if someone else could provide some color I'd be interested in knowing as well.

 
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I know two people who work/have worked at Agentis. Comment above on juniors getting worked is accurate - from what I've heard their work life balance / culture isn't great. I have heard top bucket comp is well above street however. A few of their analysts have lateralled to Big 5, but I'm not sure how well they place into buyside roles as their analyst program is relatively new. They lost one of their senior guys last year to one of the pension funds - not sure what impact this had. 

 

Comp is solid/above street if you're truly a top bucket. That much is true. They can afford decent comp because they don't have the overhead of a large org and they churn out deals like a machine with clients that have like 1/3rd chance of winning a deal 

Great business model actually, hire bunch of analysts who are effective just model monkeys and run thousands of scenarios for clients on each deal. They get hired by experienced clients on cookie cutter deals where they don't need strategic thinking involved and the clients consortium just needs someone independent for mgmt reasons. Or get hired by clients on p3 deals where the financial advice is meaningless as construction price ultimately wins deal so even if you f up a bit of doesn't matter.

 

Wouldn't necessarily say their deals are "small" as I worked with them on 2 deals. It's more LMM and some UMM deals. 

One more comment about culture: they are very demanding and they like to tell other parties what to do if you are obedient. So if you work with them, you need to manage them, otherwise they will give you ass deadlines to hit.  

 

From what I hear it is not peoples first choice of where they want to work. 

Pros:

Average player in small infrastructure deals, pay is same as a large Canadian financial institution. Exposure to modeling at jr stage. 

Cons:

Hours are brutal, culture is 0/5, absolutely no brand name. 

If you have an option to go elsewhere, take it. 

 

Exits appear nonexistent which I am not surprised about quite frankly. 

 

From what I have heard on the street...

The Good: 

- Top compensation (the best, if not, then one of the best on Bay Street)
- Extremely thorough modelling work and get massive exposure early on
- Small lean shop that is beginning to gain traction in the infra space

The Bad: 

- Brutal hours (probably the worst on the street)
- Zero culture, zero emotions, and extremely cut-throat
- Exit opps are still unknown (Toronto office only two years old)
- Too niche?

 

Is anyone able to speak on their interview process for interns? I'm assuming it will be heavily focused on technicals just from reading the comments above about them being modelling heavy?

 

Interviewed there last year. 1st had to complete an online assessment of problem solving, pattern recognition and reading comprehension, which is honestly pretty hard. After that, the process is comparable to other banks. They only  asked basic techs, (walk through a dcf, three statements, etc.). I think once you pass the first test, they assume you can do the heavy technical stuff. 

Also I'm just curious, do you have an interview for summer 2021?

 

They basically do the low fee infra work that the Canadian Banks/Globals don't pursue due to the work to fee return. The junior experience is pretty bad as you are basically just a modelling monkey all day every day. There's very little strategic/market insight involved that a traditional investment bank would give you exposure to. The culture I've heard is also quite bad - you get worked a lot on mindless stuff, the juniors are weird/nerdy, but the upside is that you get paid relatively well. 

Their business model is quite different from traditional Ibanking because they basically act as an outsourced modelling workshop for clients that just need some scenarios they want run to show to their management teams.

 

I would agree. I have also heard all of it is very low fee work that larger banks won’t even bother looking at as it is not worth the time/effort. 
I personally would choose a big bank if given the choice as the experience and reputation would open more doors when looking at opportunities outside of investment banking. 

 

I just did for winter and man that first section was tuff. I couldn't finish all the questions. The vocab one was straight out of an SAT prep book. Pretty stupid though, I wonder why they make it do it. 

 

Hi! I will be doing the online assessment, but have no experience in IB and am doing a non-finance degree. I can't send a PM because I'm a new user but was wondering if you could PM me about your experience and what I should be expecting (especially as I am acc a humanities student haha)? I would really appreciate it, thank you!

 

Absolutely terrible workplace. Be prepared to be scolded at all times. 

 

B also interested in the winter process, any insights into the interview would be super appreciated.. was it super technical? Best of luck btw!

 

Just did the first round today myself, it was indeed two 20 minute chats with 2 different full-time analysts and it was indeed purely behavioral. The typical questions you listed also came up in both interviews...I'm guessing technicals will be tested in the subsequent rounds (if I even make it there, haven't heard back yet).

 

Sounds good, thanks so much for the insight. Has anyone done the writing prompt yet? Not sure what to expect from that lol

 

did it today, was quite easy just a google doc. You don't need the full time

 

anyone get asked questions off the IQ test in the interview, not sure if they still do that but heard it has been done in the past 

 

I applied for FT and was sent a google doc thing in which I had to type a response out to a question in 20 mins. Did that today not sure what the next steps will be... anyone have any idea?

 

I wasn't asked any technicals by the analysts and I just got invited to the 2nd round, were you asked technicals by the associate? And if so, could you give a couple examples? Were they pretty standard (affect of depreciation on the 3 statements, walk me through a DCF, etc.), or more advanced?

 

Hi I am applying for Winter and am wondering what's the writing prompt like. Would you mind giving me some ideas? Hope you have good progress on your application.

 

So I had my two analyst interviews and then I had three additional interviews, two with associates and one with a VP which happened last Tuesday...haven't heard anything since. I applied for summer intern in Toronto, just wondering if anyone knows whether the process is over and I didn't get it or we're still waiting...

 

Damn, I guess I probably didn't make it to the final round then. Congrats to you though, hope you get the internship!

 

Ended up receiving a better offer which I found quite comical given that this was my last choice, as I assume it is for many. Going through the interview process I could not help but notice how unpolished the entire team is. Makes sense why they apparently only work on low fee deals. To be quite honest, it was onerous to even remotely pretend I was interested in joining a firm that appears to be lacking any tangible benefits such as brand, exit opps, and comp. 

 

Comments on comp being top of street are very true. As is model monkey work (less applicable to interns) and weird juniors. Culture is indeed sweaty but is gradually becoming less so. Deal flow is PPP heavy but certainly not the only thing you’ll work on. Interesting thing no one has mentioned is the firm’s growing principal investment business. Advisory team supports most of these activities, with many juniors getting seconded to portfolio companies, which are generally tech VC-type businesses. Pretty unique experience there. 

 

Didn’t get a first round, got the email Sunday night. Pretty stupid imo that you’ll get an interview based on the assessment score which I found useless anyways lol. If you got an offer, best of luck!

 

Yea heard the culture is pretty tough. Make up for it with the good pay but personally I can’t see how someone could do 100 hour weeks consistently. Know a few people who have worked consistently like that (not at Agentis) and they hate it; very obvious you are sacrificing personal matters (family, friends, social life, etc.) in most cases which can be difficult, especially at young age but it comes with the job at most IBs.

 

The three partners are the real-life Roy children.

One is like Kendall - the epitome of overconfident and out of touch; has "big ideas" that are pure lunacy. He "runs" the show.

One is like Roman - cusses every sentence because he has a childish sense of what being cool sounds like. Everyone else just thinks it's sad. Absolute man child.

One is like Shiv - doesn't have anything real to do so doesn't show up. 

They are not serious people.

 

Made it to the first interview, was with some clueless talent agent who asked ridiculously basic questions. Got an email a few days later that they're moving on with different candidates. Oh well.

 

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