Best Banks/Groups in Toronto

Hi All,

I'm a first year student at one of the Canadian business schools and curious to know about the investment banking scene in Toronto.

Can anyone offer their knowledge on the best groups at the banks in Toronto? For example RBC M&A, BMO Metals and Mining... are they still on top? What bout the american bank offices?

Also, how hard is it to land IB in Toronto vs. the US? Is IB still prestigious in Canada?

Thank you all in advance!

 

The canadian banks are all very similar in many ways. RBC is the clear leader and definitely views itself as the GS of Canada. BMO has historically dominant groups like mental and mining. TD probably has the most chill culture in my opinion. CIBC and Scotia have been a bit weaker in recent years. National has been on the come up though and has really grown their platform over the past few years and have some pretty solid guys at the senior level. Heard their culture is really good as well but still smallest of the Canadian banks but they do pretty well in the UMM, occasionally getting on some big deals. National will be on pretty much every significant deal in Quebec. In terms of summers, all the banks have similar programs and you'll get about the same experience at any of them. Its definitely easier to land IB Toronto than US from a Canadian school. Bay street is dominated by Ivey/Queens so if you go to either of those schools you have a great shot. It is still seen as prestigious and is definilty a great city to get your start in.

 
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The canadian banks are all very similar in many ways. RBC is the clear leader and definitely views itself as the GS of Canada. BMO has historically dominant groups like mental and mining. TD probably has the most chill culture in my opinion. CIBC and Scotia have been a bit weaker in recent years. National has been on the come up though and has really grown their platform over the past few years and have some pretty solid guys at the senior level. Heard their culture is really good as well but still smallest of the Canadian banks but they do pretty well in the UMM, occasionally getting on some big deals. National will be on pretty much every significant deal in Quebec. In terms of summers, all the banks have similar programs and you'll get about the same experience at any of them. Its definitely easier to land IB Toronto than US from a Canadian school. Bay street is dominated by Ivey/Queens so if you go to either of those schools you have a great shot. It is still seen as prestigious and is definilty a great city to get your start in.

This is pretty spot-on. RBC and TD increasingly are the top. BMO M&M is a top shop but really sweaty and BMO culture can be really questionable in general. Scotia has weaker dealflow but more chill. CIBC sits inbetween RBC/TD and Scotia - their diversified group is pretty cool as they cover a lot of sectors out of that one group. National has been getting a lot of dealflow but they're price-leaders so that's how they're doing it. They charge significantly lower fees.

One thing I'd caution is how easy it is to get in vs the US. It might be easier as a Canadian to get into an IB in Toronto than the US, but that doesn't mean it's easier than it is for an American to get into an IB in the US. There are far, far, fewer positions available in Canada and now that it's hard to get TNs for top Canadians to go to the US, it's even more fiercely competitive.

 

You heard National’s culture is very good? I’ve heard it’s one of the worst

 

US headhunters will give looks to BB/EB analysts in Toronto, and several have placed well in recent years (especially GS/MS) - TPG SF, Blackstone NY, Advent NY, Apex NY, Silver Lake SF, Warburg Pincus NY, Carlyle NY, Oaktree LA, etc. its based 99% on brand name and irrespective of deal flow

It is much, much harder for analysts at the big-5 to get looks from headhunters, even the top Cdn M&A groups

 

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