The Student Room Group

Barclays offer holders

Any of you with SA or grad offers ****ing it?
7k IB layoffs in the IB arm.
In this case it's definitely not the "go to bank"

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Be positive, means there's considerably fewer people between you and a VP/MD position..
Not a good situation to be in.
Original post by Hunarench95
Be positive, means there's considerably fewer people between you and a VP/MD position..


In most cases it's the VPs and MDs that are asked to leave first. They are on the wage of what 3 analyst put together would receive.

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Reply 5
Conversion rates for summer analysts will be slightly off at Barcap this year, lol.
Ouch. Sounds bad, but isn't Barclays going to focus more on advisory work as a result which is good if you're in that division :wink:

If you're in/going into fixed-income, I'd cry. They should never have got rid of Bob Diamond or Skip.

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(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 7
Tier 3 make room for Barclays!
Reply 8
Original post by will2348
Ouch. Sounds bad, but isn't Barclays going to focus more on advisory work as a result which is good if you're in that division :wink:

If you're in/going into fixed-income, I'd cry. They should never have got rid of Bob Diamond or Skip.

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I can't remember where i read it but apparently their UK IBD department is a bit shít too.

They are making 7k cuts. Surely, 7000 people don't work in FX or commodities.
Original post by uxa595
I can't remember where i read it but apparently their UK IBD department is a bit shít too.

They are making 7k cuts. Surely, 7000 people don't work in FX or commodities.


I don't think their IBD is that bad to be honest. I mean it's not GS but it's good enough. The problem with IBD is some key senior people who bring in deals have left/are leaving.

I think the cuts coming in FICC won't be limited to FO. The support roles in MO/BO will go as well I am assuming. They're basically doing a full-on assassination on most of S&T and related roles.

The CEO said he wanted to focus on Retail, Barclaycard and a more focused IB so I guess that's the future...Basically he wants a sustained non-cyclical income and you don't get that in S&T. Plus, UK regulations put Barclays at a comparative disadvantage to other American banks I believe as they have different capital requirements (correct me if I'm wrong?)

It makes me sort of sad the way Barclays is now undoing all of that work that built it into what it is today.

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(edited 9 years ago)
Barclays layed out their strategy today and yes, obviously also IBD is affected by layoffs. Let's be honest, European banks suck right now for investment banking. Better choose a top boutique such as BX, LAZ, PWP, GHL, EVR, etc. if you have the chance. Better pay, comparable exits, often better lifestyle, advisory focus, top talent (ex-top-BB at the top), elite advisory shops are the place to be in M&A in the next years imho. But we will see..

Btw, first year analysts are rarely part of the layoffs. The bigger problem is the loss of high profile senior management in the last few weeks at Barclays as well as the loss of senior management as part of the layoffs, which will probably harm dealflow.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 11
Original post by surfmonkey
Barclays layed out their strategy today and yes, obviously also IBD is affected by layoffs. Let's be honest, European banks suck right now for investment banking. Better choose a top boutique such as BX, LAZ, PWP, GHL, EVR, etc. if you have the chance. Better pay, comparable exits, often better lifestyle, advisory focus, top talent (ex-top-BB at the top), elite advisory shops are the place to be in M&A in the next years imho. But we will see..

Btw, first year analysts are rarely part of the layoffs. The bigger problem is the loss of high profile senior management in the last few weeks at Barclays as well as the loss of senior management as part of the layoffs, which will probably harm dealflow.


How would you place Rothschild vs the elite boutiques you listed?
Original post by uxa595
How would you place Rothschild vs the elite boutiques you listed?


Well, Rothschild is obviously a different story. It's a powerhouse in Europe, especially in terms of deal flow. However, some people refer to Rothschild as a glorified process manager that gets deals done (or not, in light of the current Publicis - Omnicom blow haha), but they are rarely mandated as lead on complex matters. Their fees are extraordinarily cheap when compared to the likes of EVR, GHL, PWP, so also keep that in mind when wondering about their huge number of deals. You will also notice that their buyside pedigree isn't on par with the aforementioned's.

Anyways, Lazard and Rothschild still have a different business approach compared to the other US elite boutiques because they really compete for the top spots in the league tables (both in terms of value and volume). US elite boutiques on the other hand compete with LAZ/RS and BBs for high-profile deals, but not for league table spots. They obviously want to be on blockbuster deals as well, but don't have the resources to work on as many deals as (compare the size of RS/LAZ to EVR/GHL/BX/PWP). They generally require higher fees (signing, closing, retainers, as well as ratchets) and are often mandated on complex matters or even private deals that won't get public. During my time at one of the US top boutiques, we had a large multibillion RX deal for a huge unlisted corporation in financial distress. The deal was definitely one to brag about in public, but the bank didn't even show it in their deals credentials list on their homepage or in presentations due to the client's wish. That's the approach. It's not about the league tables but more about the work, the relationships, and obviously fees ($$$).

This was quite off-topic, so back to your question: Rothschild has a long standing tradition in Europe and historically bonded high profile clients (think Rio Tinto for example; also, they are the #1 shop in France and have ridiculously nice relationship with the major French companies). However, buyside recruiting from their London and Frankfurt practices is quite weak and fyi, last analyst bonuses sucked (especially when compared to EVR, GHL, PWP, etc.).

One last thing: This isn't true for France. Rothschild's French practice is amazing.

As a conclusion, Rothschild is really strong in Europe and an absolute top pick, especially compared to the European BBs. However, I prefer the US advisory shops to the European BBs/RS/LAZ, but that's just my opinion.

FYI, I have first-hand experience with two of the mentioned firms and also solid contacts at most of the others I listed.
(edited 9 years ago)

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