Chicago Rankings

Can someone post Chicago rankings? Curious to know the breakdown and power of EBs and BBs there when MM shops like Blair and Baird have such a strong presence there. Do places like Moelis and GS even have a dominant presence in chicago?

Looking for rankings in deal flow, deal size, and exit opps

50 Comments
 

Be more specific. What sort of "power" and rankings are you looking for? PE exits, Dealflow, WSO street cred? Copy/pasted from another thread:

BB

BofA - Automotive, Agriculture, and other midwest general coverage. ~30-40 people (5 MDs).
Barclays - Tech-Enabled Services & Industrial Services. ~20-30 people (2 MDs).
Citi - FIG, Automotive, Metals & Mining & other Industrials. M&A team also sits here. ~40-50 people (4 MDs). 
CS - Business Services & Industrial Services. ~20-30 people (2 MDs). 
JPM - Automotive & other Industrials (building materials, paper & packaging). M&A team also sits here. ~20-30 people in coverage (2 MDs)
GS - Industrial Tech, FIG, Education, and general midwest coverage. (3 MDs)

EB

Evercore - Paper & Packaging. ~10 people (1 MD). 
Moelis - FIG, Paper, general midwest coverage and Food/Bev. ~20 people. (4 MDs)
PWP - Automotive & general midwest coverage. ~20 people (2 MDs)

 

I’m pretty sure lazard m&a executes out of chicago given their staffing structure

even the BBs mostly execute the deals they originate out of CHI

I’m not sure where the rumor that CHI was just for pitch shops originated but it’s misleading—lots of BB cov groups in NY are just pitch shops in the sense that modelling is outsourced to M&A group. Most likely if the nyc counterparts are pitch shop cov groups then CHI will be a pitch shop but if the nyc counterparts execute then the CHI group also executes

having said that, there are some MDs in CHI who don’t have their own analysts in chi and are responsible for sourcing deals, but that won’t affect you at the analyst level since they do their own thing

 

It could be difficult to get an exact ranking. Each year it would often depend on the strength and ability of the candidates themselves.

Likely can categorize by different tiers, however.

 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 

I've heard Blair is great place, but they appear to be way down in 2022 rankings (talking transaction value) compared to a place like Gugg (31 bil vs. 13 bil). Does something like this matter? Or does Blair just do a lot of smaller deals, which means Blair bankers get a lot of reps (which can actually be a plus for Blair -- 100 deals for Blair, vs. 35 for Gugg)?  

 
Controversial

More accurate Ranks. Tiers not in order btw.

Tier 1: Blair, Baird, HL, Gugg, Citi

Tier 2: JPM, CS, GS, Solomon, BMO

Tier 3: BofA, Piper, Lazard, Barclays, Macquarie

Tier 4: Ray J, BGL, PWP, Greenhill, Jefferies

Tier 5: dogshit banks (Lincoln, Truist, Stifel, Stout, Oppenheimer, etc) and super small offices (Rothschild, PJT, Moelis, Evercore)

 

wtf is this a joke? how are you ranking bmo above lazard and on par with gs? Laz chi rx exits are very much on par with Laz ny rx exits

 

Is this some satire post? Prospects, do not listen to users like this. Go network and do some research because this is classic blind leading the blind here. Of course it's made by a summer associate. Zero context provided and I can vouch for most of this list being wrong on any metric. For example, Lincoln is literally headquartered in Chicago and churns out a ton of work. 

 

Any other insight on Roth's Chicago office? Have been recruiting there for a FT lateral and would really appreciate the insight!  

 

while many say blair and baird in the same sentence, i think they shouldn't be compared. pedigree of the analyst is very different (think non-targets at baird) blair recruits not only from midwest targets but also ivies 

 
Most Helpful

because most people judge the bank on results rather than the inputs. They are virtually identical models of each other. Private. Strong sellside in the UMM with strengths in certain sectors

Nobody gives a shit if an analyst went to a better school that doesn't make the bank better lol

If kid with a 4.0 from wisco is doing the same deals at the same level as some dude from Cornell who tf cares and how does that differentiate the bank? Insane WSO level of thinking

 

Do Chicago EB or BB firms have better hours or is it generally the same?

 

Quidem sunt distinctio ad ut numquam dolores et. Molestiae qui tempore corporis aut. Ab provident ipsa sint omnis nihil aperiam excepturi aspernatur. Incidunt officiis quas quo voluptas velit non aliquid. Et consequatur rem aut impedit. Repudiandae dolorem sapiente et similique quod.

Praesentium nobis facere cumque. Ad placeat modi expedita rerum omnis aut voluptatem quia. A sunt nobis eum quo qui quas quam.

In vel ducimus voluptatem nihil. Ea est nesciunt quos rerum est quidem.

 

Aut ab dolor quis facilis sint velit non. Officiis natus impedit totam eum suscipit ut.

Veniam atque sed tempora. Occaecati autem magni temporibus perferendis earum error aperiam eius. Ut repudiandae et sint impedit quasi. Et harum ad eum nihil et.

Itaque iure occaecati molestiae voluptatibus. Sit fugit et exercitationem quia. Soluta dolor nihil asperiores eum commodi sint laborum.

Est beatae et aut. Eum perspiciatis omnis quidem.

 

Minus consequatur numquam sapiente ut doloribus error fugiat. Animi nobis perferendis est corrupti consequuntur aliquam voluptas. Et laudantium reprehenderit corrupti maxime vel. Et praesentium illo quia. Voluptas voluptatem possimus accusantium quae sit non.

Totam iste aspernatur ad id natus molestiae id ex. Nihil officia ut occaecati esse esse quis reiciendis et.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”