RBC Capital Markets | Company Reviews | Vault.com (2024)

Vault’s Verdict

Widely considered to be the top investment bank in Canada, RBC Capital Markets is also a growing investment bank within the U.S. Ideally, the firm is looking for entry-level candidates who are highly intelligent, hardworking, team players, skilled problem solvers, and interested in finance. The firm’s internship program offers students a chance to gain real deal experience while learning from and working alongside senior bankers and traders. For full-time employees, the firm offers extensive informal training and mentoring, as well as the opportunity to work internationally. RBCCM’s culture is one of its strong suits, and insiders say colleagues are supportive and friendly. In addition, the firm is making strides to improve junior bankers’ work/life balance. Deal experience is also said to be excellent. Still, the expectation of being on call 24/7 when working on a live deal is a challenge and hours can be long and stress can be high, depending on which group you join. Compensation is said to be about average for the industry, while benefits and perks could be improved, insiders say. Diversity receives mixed reviews from insiders, who note that there could be more done with respect to recruiting and retaining women, while philanthropic activities receive very good marks. As for business outlook, it’s very bright. RBCCM is a growing firm, gaining market share and expanding internationally. As a result, its brand name has been getting more and more prestigious.

Hiring Process

• “Very fast process in which we interview and extend offers within a week. The ideal candidate is a good culture fit, has a high GPA, has previous finance experience, and comes from a core recruiting school.”

• “Looking for highly intelligent people willing to work hard and actively think through and solve problems. Must be a team player. Strict no a**hole policy.”

• “Must be hardworking, and keenly interested in finance, investing, and business. Must also have good general business sensibility.”

• “Too much focus on ‘target schools’ and so we end up attracting lower quality students that have the target school name (such as Penn, NYU, Columbia, Cornell, and Michigan). We need to target a broader set of top 20 or top 30 schools: Dartmouth, Texas, Georgetown, WashU, Indiana, etc.”

Interview Questions

• “They are very interested in your previous work, be it at a firm, school, etc.”

• “Questions vary from interviewer to interviewer.”

• “Energy-specific questions in addition to typical IBD questions.”

Intern Experience

• “RBC has one of the best internship programs on the Street. The retention rates are extremely high compared to most other shops, and because RBC is in a rapidly expanding phase (unlike most other domestic banks and every European bank) it is a great place to start a career. The attitude on the floor is something I’ve never experienced and truly exemplifies everything I wanted in my job. The internship is what you make of it, so if you expect to just be another number or hide in the crowd, this isn’t the place for you. Everyone from your associates to your MDs know the interns’ names and that is something extremely rare to find.”

• “Strong learning experience, with opportunity to earn responsibility quickly. Collaborative environment where you could ask any question once, but they expected you to learn from experience (as well they should). Only intern on the trading desk, so the role was somewhat undefined, and there weren’t many people to look to for guidance directly in my role.”

• “Best parts: networking events to meet other interns/professionals at the firm, above-Street pay, meaningful work, great people. Worst part: lack of transparency into offer process caused me great anxiety.”

• “Lots of exposure and deal activity. Few interns, so lots of contact with senior and midlevel bankers. But few full-time positions hired into, and not a structured program, which was difficult to adjust to at first.”

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Career Development

• “Hard work does pay off here, and you will be noticed by management. Management is good at acknowledging a job well done and those who go above and beyond.”

• “RBC’s rotational program gives you the ability to discover all that RBC has to offer, and the mentoring and training you receive for each of the positions is something I have yet to see anyone else match.”

• “RBC is very open to considering which positions may or may not be in the best interests of its employees, and attempts to find the most accurate fit for an individual’s skills, attitude, and interests.”

• “Lots of international opportunities. The firm is highly supportive of high performers moving around, and they actively propose and think about those opportunities as a means of rounding out employees. There is also a strong mentorship culture, driven by the fact that many of our senior bankers began at RBC as an IB analyst. There are very few people that leave RBC to go to other banks in Canada; those that do leave typically do so to go to another industry. There is a rigid promotion policy, which is primarily driven by tenure.”

Quality of Life

• “Usually pretty good hours on weekdays comparable to other groups (i.e. not a lot of post 1 a.m. nights). But ‘protected weekends’ are not respected, and vacation times are hard to take and not flexible.”

• “Actively engaged in promoting work/life balance and making strides on this front. We recently hosted an employee roundtable to discuss ways in which we can make the work process more efficient. There is engagement at the highest levels of the organization, and similar initiatives are taking place globally. But banking is still banking; lots of hours and lots of stress.”

• “Willing to have honest conversations about work/life balance and what our generation looks for in an employer. However, slow response time to initiate changes.”

• “RBC’s quality of life is a great aspect of the job. They are very invested in your wellbeing, and the culture on the desk is something that cannot be matched.”

Salary and Benefits

• “At analyst level, the salary and bonus is competitive with other banks. Solid snack options as well.”

• “Great compensation but very little perks, even at MD level (e.g. no paid parking, no private annual medical).”

• “Few perks: no gym reimbursem*nt or private medical care (physicals) reimbursem*nt, and maternity leave/paternity leave policy is not as generous as elsewhere.”

• “Base salary is below market but all-in compensation should make up for it. All-in, though, we’re still below the top bulge brackets on the Street.”

Diversity, Philanthropy, and Green Initiatives

• “RBC is the largest corporate giver in Canada. I think the run for the kids has become a great initiative and one that we are all proud of within the firm. I know a little less about the Blue Water project, but it’s also a good example of our corporate philanthropy.”

• “Very little female retention or women in senior ranks beyond ‘visible positions’ of CFO and Bank Chairman. Very light below this level.”

• “Diversity is a focal point for senior leadership, and we’re making better progress than most banks. We have a higher representation of female professionals than any sizeable bank on the Street in Canada. We also have a very active philanthropy and volunteerism program to encourage people to get involved in their communities.”

• “There are support groups and initiatives in place, but representation of minorities both in leadership and across the firm leaves much to be desired.”

Business Outlook

• “This, above all, is the most critical aspect of any new job—the ability to thrive in a withering financial environment. The financial industry is shrinking post-crisis and this was the No. 1 reason I chose to work here. While many European banks are trimming down and even shutting their doors, RBC is actively hiring, expanding, and growing at an astronomical rate. We are now competing with the other large bulge bracket banks in the U.S., but are doing it with a younger, smarter, and faster team.”

• “Firm strategy is clear but doesn’t really inspire—geared towards doing more of the same (because this is what we are good at).”

• “There have been some efforts, but there should be more with respect to being more open with employees about future outlook, what we are trying to improve, new tech, new products, and new processes.”

• “Extremely well-positioned to take market share in the U.S. and further expand our cross-border capabilities. In the energy space, challenging commodity markets have driven a flight to quality advisors—this is best represented by a more than 40 percent equity market share in Canadian energy in 2015 year to date.”

RBC Capital Markets

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