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!
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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.
BUMP
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.
Define well above street - I'm really just curious about a Canadian boutique that actually offers above-street comp.
Awful shop would avoid. Terrible work life balance, majority of deals are shitty p3 advisory that larger banks don't want to touch because fees are so small.
So if fees are crap am I right to assume comp is crap too?
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?
It sucks
bump
I only know one person there who joined as a junior, and what I have heard is that the comp is fantastic but the hours are absolutely brutal.
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?
Applying for the winter
Just received the online assessment. Mind if I shoot you a PM? Have a couple quick questions about the test.
Hi! I will be doing the online assessment. Can I PM you about it please? Many thanks.
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!
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.
Accurate description
This is an accurate description
This is an accurate description of what they do
This is accurate
Very true. Can attest to this coming from the buy side
Anyone apply for summer 2021 and do the apptitude test yet? I found it pretty difficult tbh. Thoughts?
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!
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.
Accurate
Had final round with MD in the past, he’s a complete asshole. You can just tell this guy has issues and takes it out on interns. You’re basically a walking punching bag. I withdrew my app.
Same experience
Anyone else get a first round here sometime today or tomorrow?
for summer?
Yeah - got an interview today with two analysts
B also interested in the winter process, any insights into the interview would be super appreciated.. was it super technical? Best of luck btw!
First round - no techs purely behavioral. Really short interviews actually 2, 20 minute chats. Be prepared for all the usual stuff - Why IB, why Agentis, why Infrastructure, etc.
Completely false about it being purely behavioural questions.
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?
Yeah I did that, then a few hours later they asked about availability to schedule an interview
Was this today?
I applied full-time and got nothing :(
Anyone who applied for summer in Vancouver here back yet after speaking to an associate?
Has anyone spoken to a VP or Director yet? I'm trying to get a feel for where they're at in the process. I spoke to an associate on Thursday for context.
How soon after the analyst did you speak with the associate?
Analysts on Wednesday then associate Thursday but radio silence since then. Not sure if i got dinged or if they’ve slowed down.
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?
Which office and cycle? I can only speak to summer in Vancouver.
Anyone speak to a VP or Director yet?
Spoke with a VP and Director yesterday
How was it? im appying for summer in Vancouver. Any techs?
Anyone get an offer for FT yet?
Any summer offers go out yet?
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.
summer offers out
For both Toronto and Vancouver?
Dust
.
Has anyone spoken with the Managing Partner yet for the Vancouver process?
heard its a sweat shop
.
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...
Got an email today, have a final round tomorrow.
Damn, I guess I probably didn't make it to the final round then. Congrats to you though, hope you get the internship!
Anyone apply full time and have the final round?
Any offers out for summer positions TO/VAN?
Had a final round earlier this week, haven't heard anything yet.
Same situation .. best of luck
anyone applied for the winter?
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.
Hopefully its just for summer and the job market improves for FT recruitment.
I’ve heard comp is near 200k CAD for top bucket analyst. Had a few different alumni tell me this. Can anyone else confirm?
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A new app was just posted on my career portal for 2021 SA - anyone know what's going on here? Did they not find any suitable candidates the first time round?
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Thanks. just curious what made them seem weak?
Yea I dont know anyone who's first choice is agentis. Low quality/low fee work and firm filled with weird juniors
would avoid really rude team and not a place where you want to be
Apparently some juniors there do have the time to MS every negative post about Agentis lmao.
Any idea what the Asset Management side there is like? Looking at an experienced position there (3-5yrs). Since it's a boutique and not quite my industry, I have almost no idea what the pay expectation should be!
The investment banking division pays highest on Bay Street but you work over 95 hours a week consistently
Bump
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.
What does total comp look like? I'd be interested to know as they're hiring a range of analysts right now.
A2 friend last year made CAD125,000 base + 120,000 bonus
BUMP - interested in London office
Anyone hear back for ft opportunities in Toronto?
Haven't heard back yet, had final round earlier this week
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!
In general, has the culture and work/life balance improved here at all? Debating on the offer I've received. Not sure I could pull consistent 100 hour weeks.
know several guys who all quit early 2022; pretty evident its still sweaty and not that great.
heard comp is good though at least. depends what u want but other banks probably offer less, but still good pay + better culture + better exit opps
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.
L
Hey, I just wanted to ask previous interns how their interview process went for summer analyst IB. I have a 2nd round interview with an analyst next Monday, and I have no idea what to expect. They told me is a technical-focused interview, so will they just ask me the basic walk me through a DCF, 3 financial statements... or what else do you think they will ask?
Toronto or vancouver?
How did it go for you? Was it super technical?
If you’re in Vancouver, then thats your only choice. Vancouver pay for most firms are ~30% lower than Toronto so for $200k+ as an analyst that is a lot.
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.
What questions did they ask in the first rotund? I have my first interview in a few days. Thanks!
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