YUIBS: Establishing YU’s name on Wall Street

Landing a job at an Investment Bank on Wall Street is one of the most difficult tasks to achieve as a college student. This is because students from the top universities across the United States are competing for such a small number of spots. Fortunately for Yeshiva University students, about three years ago Eyal Greenberg, a Yeshiva University alumnus, and former Goldman Sachs investment banker started the Yeshiva University Investment Banking Society, also known as YUIBS. In short, the goal of the society is to provide a select group of students mentorship, advice, and learning materials that will help prepare them to land one of these lucrative and highly sought-after jobs.

Although at first students may not recognize it, being a part of the Investment Banking Society is a tremendous opportunity. Since its inception in 2014, the society has grown not only by the number of students involved but also by the number of alumni on Wall Street who recognize the success of the organization. This past recruiting season, the Investment Banking Society had its best year since its creation with members landing elite jobs at both bulge bracket and boutique investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi, RBC, Barclays, and Moelis.

When asked about YUIBS moving forward, one of the current president's, Michael Klein said: “YUIBS's game plan is to continue to help students break into the top firms on Wall Street. Every year we get more and more successful, and the future is extremely promising. As YU continues to improve its reputation on Wall Street, our acceptance rates should hopefully continue to skyrocket.”

In order to further understand the success of the club, it is important to outline how difficult it is to land an investment banking job on Wall Street. To put this into perspective, according to Bloomberg, Harvard University applicants who apply for an investment banking job have an acceptance rate of about 5.4%, while the acceptance rate of an elite firm on Wall Street is about 2%.

Despite the enormous challenge, the society has been able to be so successful is in large part due to YU alumni paying it forward.

After signing a full-time offer at Houlihan Lokey, one of the top boutique banks, current Co-President Matthew Stadtmauer said: “I would not have been able to procure the job I did without the help of the Investment Banking Society. Therefore, when given the opportunity, the least I could do is give back and help the current members. We are all one family and possess the same background, and it would be my greatest pleasure to give back in any way possible.”

This type of mentality is essential for the success of the society as current alumni in investment banking can provide valuable insight and mentorship to current YUIBS members.

Furthermore, the Investment Banking Society organizes a number of exclusive events throughout the year. Last spring, YUIBS hosted an event with Henry Kressel, a Partner and Senior Managing Director at Warburg Pincus, a major private equity firm. This fall, YUIBS members were invited to attend an exclusive panel hosted by Daniel Posner, Chief Investment Officer and Co-Founder of the Alliance Bernstein Energy Opportunity Fund. As a part of this panel YUIBS members got to hear from Gregg Felton, Managing Partner at Altus Power America, Eric Gribetz, Partner at Pegasus Capital Advisors, and Simon Brookim, Senior Analyst at Owl Creek Asset Management.

Opportunities like these are not available in an ordinary club at YU, and ultimately these exclusive events provide members of the society with the ability to learn from and interact with leaders on Wall Street.

As an exclusive club on campus, the process of being admitted to YUIBS is similar to the application process of investment banks. Students that are interested in joining the society are required to submit their resume and pass a series of interviews conducted by the YUIBS’s current presidents and alumni currently working on Wall Street. While that process might seem overwhelming, investment bankers can often work 100+ hour weeks. The rigorous application process allows YUIBS to focus on attracting the brightest and hardest working business majors at Yeshiva University. This exclusivity has perhaps led to the success of the club as this year 90% of members received internship offers, which will hopefully lead to full-time offers.

As YUIBS continues to have success and help YU students find their way into Wall Street, it undoubtedly will benefit future society members.