 |
||
|
|
||
| |||||||||||
The heart of San Francisco Historically, the investment banking arm of Charlotte-based Bank of America has enjoyed success that rivals that of its New York peers. Banc of America Securities, formerly called Montgomery Securities, has focused on companies in nine industries: financial services, consumer (products, retail and hospitality), media and communications, business services, energy, industrial growth, real estate, and health care. In addition, the company relies upon its ability to integrate its large research department with its trading department, one of the largest outside New York City. The firm's Private Client Services department utilizes the resources of the firm to provide investment services to wealthy individuals and families. A bear hug from Nationsbank In 1997, Montgomery Securities was acquired by the much larger NationsBank Corporation, then the fourth-largest bank in the United States. NationsBank paid a pretty penny for its new subsidiary--the pact cost NationsBank an estimated $1.2 billion in cash and stock. While Montgomery was said to have been searching for a partner to take a minority stake, the overwhelming embrace of NationsBank may have taken the firm by surprise. Much merging The changes have kept coming. In early 1998, NationsBank announced a merger with BankAmerica in a deal that created the second-largest commercial bank in the U.S. (trailing only Citibank in size). In September 1998, then-Montgomery Chairman/CEO Thomas Weisel resigned his post after close to a year of power struggles with NationsBank. The bank had been extremely aggressive in its efforts to tame the "highly entrepreneurial" securities firm. His exit was not a complete surprise -- firm insiders report that Weisel had voiced objections to a number of decisions made by NationsBank concerning its new securities division. For example, though it was understood that the investment banking arm would control the firm's combined (extremely lucrative) high yield business, NationsBank eventually took control of it -- reportedly in preparation for the bank's merger with BankAmerica Corp. The situation was further aggravated when NationsBank announced that the private equity investing business would be turned over to BankAmerica instead of staying with Montgomery. Talent drain Industry observors expected that bankers loyal to Weisel would follow his lead, and they have, many of them joining their former boss at his new firm, Thomas Weisel Partners. The firm's biotech practice, in particular, was practically decimated, as I-banking insiders whispered that the firm would drop the industry altogether. Bank of America has fought back. Led by Carter McClelland, the former head of Deutsche Bank in the U.S., the firm has been dangling can't-pass-up compensation packages to lure talent from competitors. Meanwhile, Bank of America has erased the Montgomery name, renaming its I-banking arm Banc of America Securities. Whether the newly made division is as successful as its predecessor remains to be seen.
BAS conducts on-campus recruiting at select universities. Applicants from schools not visited by the I-banking division should e-mail jobopps@bofasecurities.com. Those who wish to join Banc of America Securities outside San Francisco should be happy to know that the I-banking division is expanding its presence in Charlotte (the headquarters of parent Bank of America), and especially in New York. "The old Montgomery was pretty much all here in San Francisco; now we want to make sure that we have a presence in both [coasts] that's substantial," reports one I-banking analyst. "So now of 35 analysts, maybe 20 or 22, 23 will be in San Francisco, with 10 in New York and two or three in Charlotte. Those numbers will be evening out even more in the coming years." Those interested in M&A should know that the firm's dedicated M&A product group is in New York (although analysts and associates also can work on such transactions through their industry groups). The firm hires MBAs into I-banking as generalists who work across product and industry groups before specializing in one of the firm's nine industry groups (technology, health care, etc.) or one of its product groups (private equity, M&A, etc.). Explains one insider about the placement process: "It's almost like a dating deal. You kind of check people out and they check you out until there's a match, this lasts three or four months until Christmas." BAS also hires MBAs as associates into its sales and trading, research, and private client departments. MBAs are hired into all of BAS offices: Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Los Angeles, London, New York and San Francisco. In addition, business school students can join the firm as summer associates in San Francisco, but only in I-banking. Reports one associate I-banking insider, "We traditionally have not had an active summer program, primarily due to the size of the classes - you had classes in the single digits as early as five years ago, so everybody came in as they ended school, or laterally," That contact continues: "Even today, although we did have summer associates this year, this isn't the primary feeder mechanism, although going forward we are increasing this."
The turnover Banc of America Securities insiders do not shy away from the fact that their firm has seen significant changes in the past year, most prominently with the turnover that occurred as Thomas Weisel left the firm. "I'm not going to lie to you, there was a period here where there was a lot of turnover and a lot of uncertainty," reports one analyst insider. "Half the class that I came with are not here now. But the people who stayed, they understand what the opportunity is." An associate concurs: "It was a stage of uncertainty that wasn't the most effective time for the firm, but it's a stage that's gone. People had to decide what they want to do, and in a way it was healthy. I mean, you've got to pick your team." Continues that contact: "As an organization, we have gone through a significant stage of maturity, and that is going from a younger company with a founder to a larger organization. It's not all hoops and hollers - I mean, I liked the old Montgomery, but business demands more capital. We are making the decision that the market's demanding." BAS insiders agree that the atmosphere is now one of optimism, as the firm looks to challenge bulge-bracket firms. "We're constantly getting e-mails memos as far as moving up in the rankings, that's where the focus is - I think everybody is optimistic," says one research associate. "We're hiring top analysts to round out areas, and we have a number of top analysts already. From this standpoint, it's time to execute. It's too early to tell if we are, but it definitely appears that we are moving in the right direction." Growing the team So what do the changes at Banc of America Securities mean? "I think teamwork is a much more important term than it used to be," says one insider. "Ten years ago at Montgomery, the most important characteristic was individual aggressiveness. It was a very small firm, and individuals had to go out and get an account, and they did it by themselves. Now we are much more about working as a team." "From a corporate finance perspective, we joined with guys who have tons of relationships that we have never cultivated," says another optimistic contact. "There's so many more feet on the street to turn up more ideas to - if we do this right, there should be no shortage of deals." Continues that contact, "In terms of bureaucracy, sure there's a little more, but you're going to get through that. There may be a guy on the credit side who has a previous relationship with a company that we've never dealt with, and he'll say, 'This company wants equity research,' and we've never done it before. You have to deal with some of these calls. But sometimes it leads to new business." "It's not the kind of Wild, Wild, West banking that there used to be," says one contact. "In the past, we were known as the equity shop, doing $20 million IPOs. Well, the fact is, nowadays, our criteria is for bigger and better things. Although we still focus on growth companies, we can now offer them different products, such as credit or high-yield." Also, says that insider, "We haven't lost our focus on growth companies or young companies, but we've added the dimension of that we can talk to companies that we never talked to before." Still aggressive While BAS is certainly growing, insiders are quick to point out that the firm is no slow-moving behemoth. "Culturally, because we joined a relatively young institution in NationsBank, we have not become bureaucratic and stuffy," reports one insider. "We tend to still attract people who want to be aggressive and seek personal opportunity. Our attitude is, if you can bring in a client, 'Go get 'em.' We're very young and very entrepreneurial." This aggressiveness is a function not only of the firm's size, but also of its clientele, our contacts say. "Both of our institutions [the former Montgomery and former NationsBank] are young, so we don't have century-old accounts which are the firm's accounts," explains one insider. "For example, Goldman has been banking Sears for who knows how long, and the way that client is serviced is through a very large, very deep team of people. When I'm working with growth companies, there are thinner teams, and we can give younger people more opportunity." An I-banking analyst agrees, saying "it's a much more independent kind of analyst experience. I think the staffing here is not as stacked hierarchically. You're going to work one-on-one with your MD and VPs - that's sort of expected." Reports another associate, "We have a flatter organizational structure, so I am on a first-name basis with the head of the investment banking department." San Francisco banking Insiders at Banc of America Securities' headquarters San Francisco office report that there is a definite difference between Bay Area banking and Wall Street. "There are not enough investment bankers in San Francisco to have our own culture," reports one insider. "I think it's more balanced - you don't run around with a bunch of other bankers comparing bonuses. You keep your perspective." "There is a completely different experience out here," contends another contact, a BAS analyst. "The people who are out here are out here for a reason. So they are much more conscious of your well-being or your happiness - I think people are more aware of analysts and their happiness than say a normal firm." "If you are banking in San Francisco, you made a decision not to go to Wall Street," says yet another contact, "and that kind of indicates a certain personality, which in my experience means a little more laid-back, a little more approachable, and are interested in more than being Gordon Gekko." "We tend to do the same hours as they do on Wall Street, we just adjust the time zone - at 7 o'clock there's a lot of people, and at 8 at night we tend to thin out," reports one I-banking insider. "It helps to be a morning person." Another insider contends that BAS bankers work slightly fewer hours than as on Wall Street, but that the difference is not significant. "In terms of the amount of time, I'm in by 7:30 in the morning, but the fact is, most nights, I'm not going to leave till 9 or 10," says one I-banking analyst. "All in all it's about the same, but I think there's a definite difference in terms of face time as compared to NY." In the San Francisco office, "traders have to come in around 5 a.m. to be there before the market opens on the East Coast."
Michael Ferone Bank of America Secuirities Staffing 600 Montgomery Street1 San Francisco CA 94111 (415) 627-2028
Brokerage services;Clearing services;Investment banking;Prime Brokerage;Private client investment
Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown;Robertson Stephens;Hambrecht & Quist;SG Cowen More Company Profiles For more career information, go to Vault.com ©2000, Vault.com Inc
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
