Best Lev Fin in EMEA/UK

JPM: top shop of the street, but deal flow can be refinancing focused, so there is a chance most of your experience revolves around corporate refinancings. The team is on every high profile LBO, however your exposure to this deals might be limited, as they are few, and the analyst class at JPM LevFin is very big. So your experience can vary. As mentioned above, the split between refinancing and sponsor deals isn't optimal. Very strong exit opps. DB: Used to dominate the market in 2018/9, and is constantly ranked within top 3. Performance can be fluctuating between years, and you wouldn't see them rank outside top 5 for any reason. Deal experience is very good, with the majority of deals being very sponsor oriented. Exit opps are good (not as good as JPM), but shouldn't be a problem if you speak a European language. Disadvantage would be that exit opps can be weaker, especially compared to M&A teams at GS/JPM but overall one of the best Levfin teams you can be. No insight on culture whatsoever. CS: same as DB and it has traditionally been one of the best LevFin shops. CS LevFin has insane sponsor experience and deal execution. It's also very strong in US as well, which can never be a bad thing. Only problem is the team has lost ground last few years, and CS is taking a blow. You cant go wrong with them either, as the deal experience will be very strong and exit opps have been very good in the past years, and culture is great. I don't see any major disadvantages here. GS: GS is GS, so nothing to say here. Only disadvantage compared to DB/CS is a more refinancing orientation, however the split between refinancing and sponsor deals is better than JPM. Culture is very good as well. BofA: good culture, good hours, solid deal experience, but weaker than the above teams imo. As the above, it's also considered one of the best Levfin teams. No insight on exit opps, but I think they are good.