Investment Banking in San Francisco | Top Banks | Salaries

Overview of Investment Banking in San Francisco

If you have ever talked to any investment banking in San Francisco, he would talk about how overhyped the New York’s investment banking is. And somehow it is true. Just because New York is the largest financial center of the US, it’s natural to be enticed by the hype and exaggeration. But the truth is San Francisco in now way is lesser than New York in terms of pay-package, working hours, or the way the bankers approach investment banking.

The actual difference lies in the industries that San Francisco covers, the exit routes that the investment bankers in San Francisco opt for, and also the cost of living in San Francisco. For example, if we look at the industries the investment banking in San Francisco concentrate on, they are technology and healthcare. On the other hand, for New York, the industries are much diversified.

If you would like to start a career in investment banking in the US, your first focus should not be region; rather what specific industry you would like to work in. In terms of cost of living, San Francisco is quite expensive (in some case more expensive than New York).

Let’s now look at the services offered by the investment banking in San Francisco.

Investment Banks in San Francisco – Services Offered

The services offered by the investment banks in San Francisco can be divided by two broad dimensions. One is a strategic advisory and another is the financial advisory. Since the industry focus on the investment banking in San Francisco is one technology and healthcare, these banks handle deals in the similar domain.

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#1 – Strategic Advisory:

Under strategic advisory, there are top three services that the investment banks in San Francisco offer.

The first one is a merger advisory. Under this, they work with clients that don’t want to expand their horizon by merging with a similar company or a company that offers the competitive advantage.
The second service the investment banks offer is acquisition advisory. Clients who need this service look for a target company that is a perfect fit for getting acquired. Clients take the help of the investment banks to ease off the technicalities for them and smooth out the process.
The third service that investment banks offer is divestitures advisory. In this case, the clients want to liquidate a subsidiary business and want to take the help of the investment banks in the process.

#2 – Financial Advisory:

Under financial advisory, there are also three significant services.

The first one under financial advisory is private capital raising. Under this service, the bank helps the clients get a way to raise capital.
The other two services that are offered by the investment banks are IPO advisory and restructuring. If a company wants to go for public listing, then the company needs the help of an investment bank.

Even for restructuring, the investment banking in San Francisco helps out their clients in making the company more profitable.

List of Investment Banks in San Francisco

Goldman Sachs
JPMorgan
Morgan Stanley
Citibank
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Business Capital
Instream Partners LLC
Inverness Advisors, LLC
Assay Advisory
Venturi & Company LLC
Aurus Advisors
Orion Capital Group
TriSpan Partners
Vrolyk Capital Partners
Martinwolf M&A Advisors
Starlight Investments, LLC
Boston Meridian
JMP Group Inc
Aquilo Partners
LRG Capital
Barnard Montague
Arbor Advisors
Financial Technology Partners
Eaton Capital Corporation
Ridgecrest Capital Partners
Atalyst Financial Group
Wells Fargo FINET
GVC Financial Services, LLC
WaveEdge Capital
Inertia Advisors
Silicon Valley Partners LLC
Steelhead Advisors LLC
Atlas Technology Group, LLC

Investment Bank Recruitment Process in San Francisco

Recruitment isn’t a big deal if you want to get placed in investment banks in San Francisco. But it’s important how you approach the recruitment process. If you want to get into a specific niche (or industry), it’s better that you prepare for that particular industry and be thorough with the recent deals that happened.

At the same time, you need to pay special heed to the network. Once you decide to start your career as an investment banker, you need to network like your life depends on it. If you can grab a couple of internship with reputed investment banks, you would be on your way to a lucrative career.

Culture in Investment Banking San Francisco

In the US, the culture is slightly different in every region. But the things that matter are more or less all the same. For example, if you talk about working hours, in San Francisco, it’s at least 85 to 90 hours. In New York, it’s almost similar. Even the cost of living in both of these regions are quite the same.

But if you talk about opportunities, New York is far better than San Francisco. But if you feel that you want to work in only technology or healthcare, San Francisco is a good option.

Investment Banks Salaries in San Francisco

The compensation for investment banking in San Francisco is quite good. As per Glassdoor, here’s the average salary of an investment banking in San Francisco –

source: Glassdoor.com

The average salary of an investment banker in San Francisco is US $128,836 per annum.

Investment Banking Exit Opportunities in San Francisco

For investment bankers, there are many exit opportunities. But in New York, the IB exit opportunities are more than in San Francisco because New York is the financial hub of the US.

Still, if you want to quit investment banking, you can join a technology start-up or you can go in completely a different career domain like private equity or a hedge fund. Or else, you can also join a corporate and work in the corporate finance domain.