WSO Weekly Wrap-up

April 12, 2025



Hey WSO Monkey,

From one user's cold-calling playbook to speculating if Monday might see a “Short-selling is Paradise” post - plenty to dive into. Also some real talk about office politics and networking etiquette (or lack thereof?), fresh rankings of MM banks, and UBS’s YoY performance.

-Patrick

Top Discussions

  1. I Finally Did It. Extreme Non-target to My Dream Role, Investment Banking Analyst - M&A - "Now for my ‘winning strategy’ So I made a list of all boutique investment banks in my city, think ~ 10-200 employees. I’d straight up call reception, requested to be patched through to someone I could ‘speak to regarding early careers for myself’ 8/10 times I would be transferred to either HR, or an MD. Most of the times it was an MD. 50% of the time, they would be immediately impressed that I took the initiative to cold call, instead of the traditional cold email. I would introduce myself, my background, my passion for the industry, and why I chose to call their company. (Important to be casual, make it a friendly chat, but seem knowledgeable/intelligent.) Towards the end of the call, I would ask if I could send them over a copy of my CV, they always said yes..."

  2. How Many of You Plan to Short the Markets on Monday 4/7/25? - "This is setting up to be one of the opportunities of our careers to have the market shaken up and be able to load in at more reasonable prices, especially for those that were still young during COVID and didn't have the coin to get in then. The market was already insanely over valued which just puts fuel on the fire now that we're actually getting real turbulence via the tariffs. Don't forget that we have midterms coming up in less than 2 years that could reduce his power, and at most we have 3.5 years left. Not to mention that he will probably pussy out eventually if things get too bad and we could wake up tomorrow to an announcement that the tariffs are greatly reduced or removed completely..."

  3. Subtle Ways to Be Liked at the Office - "Positive attitude goes an absurdly long way, as does being affable. This is ultimately a sales job at the senior levels anyway, those are probably amongst the two most important skills, more so than pure technicals, for being well-liked at work and tbh broadly successful in the high finance world (including PE, which is on average even more political than IB is at least at larger firms)."

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Top Discussions (contd.)

  1. Kids These Days Don’t Know the Game - "Every networking call I get on - 1st call we are having and the 1st question they have for me after I walk them through my 10 years in the industry is “where is recruiting at / how can I get involved?” Really? That’s your first question for the call? Nothing about my thoughts on the job, why I stayed instead of PE, the most challenging / interesting parts? It’s just off putting and shows they can’t sell and don’t know the game. You’re supposed to act like you’re genuinely interested in a person’s perspectives and backgrounds at least a little (would argue you actually should be interested if you want to do the job)..."

  2. 2025 US Rankings - Middle Market/Balance Sheet Investment Banks - "Jef rest should be in A+ and Jef O&G should be alongside HC in S, Those are perhaps the only two groups in this entire list that are truly elite in their space comparatively (maybe WF REGL too). Also RX and M&A are fundamentally different, and it's a bit weird to rank them together since you are doing different fundamental work; not really apples-to-apples comparisons..."

  3. UBS IB Americas Fees Collapse: 25Q1 Fees Half of 24Q1 Fees and Outside Top 20 (LSEG Data) - "A ton of the groups are useless and toxic, The culture has dramatically gotten worse from when most of the juniors posting here joined; there have been tons of layoffs. It's also a good enough bank to where there are some expectations of it being decent. For example if Nomura or TD (no offense to either, just picking classic MM firms) was trash or declining in the US nobody would care because there are no expectations but UBS has publicly positioned itself as having a lot of expectations post acquisition with the Barclays hires (that have turned into a nightmare for large part) and the announcment of a desire to be a top 6 M&A franchise (which it is not even close to; in the past quarter it finished as a 8-12 ranged bank in M&A EV for the US (depending on what deal tracker you look at)."

New Podcasts Coming in Hot 🔥

  • St. Andrews to LEK Consulting | Chat with Stella Lindquist | WSO Academy

  • NYU to Economic Consultant at AlixPartners | Chat with Timothy Owen

  • Colby to Investment Banking at Bank of America | Chat with Ryan Stewart

Hot Jobs 💼

Senior Technology Equity Analyst - "This role is ideal for a driven professional with expertise in the technology industry, specifically AI and Crypto. We are seeking someone who thrives in a dynamic environment and is eager to contribute beyond a single role or task..."

Equity Research Analyst - "Buy-side research analyst opportunity with a family office. The analyst will work with the direct investment team and report to the Portfolio Manager. The team employs a fundamentally driven investment process and an owner’s mentality...."

Research Associate (Equity Small Mid Cap) - New York, NY - "This position will support the Small/Mid-Cap Equity research team and initially be responsible for covering multiple sectors in support of current team members."

On Deck - Training 🎓

All in Eastern Standard Time

Stay Strong,
Patrick Curtis
CEO and Founder, WallStreetOasis.com

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PS - We're also always looking to add resume reviewers and WSO Mentors to our team. Set your own pay (from $40/hr to up to $400/hr) to increase or decrease mentee flow. To submit an application, go here.

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