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Bofa all the way - citi has been on the decline for while. E.g. for a while a couple years ago I think the healthcare team didn't even have any MDs.
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Seems like you made up your mind already but just looking for confirmation / justification.
Once you hit the desk you will realise that league tables mean nothing and are all fabricated
Either way if you want to talk league tables, this is the website banks use for aggregate deal data (before adding 30 footnotes of filters in order to come up as number 1) https://dealogic.com/investment-banking-scorecard/
Bofa is above citi both globally and in Europe YTD2025
In my view the reality is that you don't want to join an institution that's undergoing a massive restructuring (citi). Unless anything terrible happens at bofa, no matter the league tables, they have a historically better reputation in Europe - and that's what really counts for PE recruiting. Long term trajectory who cares, you will probably leave in 2 years. If you're thinking long term trajectory than join one of the fast growing IBs like Jeff
Also have you considered which teams you liked more? I remember when I joined banking, I was interviewing for an extremely sweaty team. I was genuinely worried but for some reason I had a really good feeling when I was speaking to each member of the team. I followed my gut and took the offer despite my worries about being not being able to make it, and 3 years later I can say I made the right decision. I have now left banking, but I never went into work thinking "I hate my coworkers". And I still hang with a lot of them outside of work
Either way you will be fine and both are good options - one way or the other you won't be making a mistake
Citi currently 4th globally on deal value, which isn't even the best metric as financing banks will be overweighted, getting full-credit via providing financing and advice despite not playing a critical role (WF and UBS notable examples).
Much better to go off fees (where Citi is also 4th globally).
Whichever way you dice it, Citi is performing better and is a better choice currently.
everything is marginal in this case.
Do you prefer to be in Wharf vs City.
Some Citi groups are better than BoFA and are very competitive overall (NRCET) and vice versa
I imagine you will get good looks from PE either way if you are top performer w good deal exposure
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M&C, Industrials, M&A, Real Estate are consistently top 3/4 on the street.
After that would say Tech, FIG, Infra, UK are pretty strong too
Citi has a much stronger presence across the board and a clear direction of travel under Jane and Vis. BofA is a bit lost at the moment and hasn’t been able to build up their franchise over the past years.
Citi.
Much stronger momentum, 4th globally for M&A fees as another commenter mentioned.
I think they are about the same
they are usually interchangeable between the 4th and 5th best in European league tables.
go with the one where you like the people better
Citi.
Much more global bank with a far stronger presence in MENA, APAC and South America, strong momentum under Raghavan and Fraser too. Rising heavily in the league tables in both EMEA/US, 4th currently for M&A fees in EMEA and globally, with clear plans to continue aggressively bolstering their IB arm.
BofA used to be stronger a couple years back, even challenging the big 3 in the late 2010s. Since 2022 they have waned slowly, clear lack of focus on their IB arm with top MDs leaving to the likes of JPM and WF in recent months.
Definitely would go with Citi - clear plans to continue reinvesting their freed-up capital from selling off their retail arms into IB/WM.
Does anyone have a screenshot of M&A fees in EMEA?
Citi has had anecdotally higher conversion rates - also something to consider
Close call imo but Citi has a clearer and more compelling strategy from the top down on how to grow IB.
BofA was the clear better choice 3-4 years ago but they are a bit lost strategically right now. Made some bonehead decisions the last few years that ultimately drove rainmakers out. Bonuses there are horrific as well.
BofA’s IB leadership consists of a bunch of clueless whackos who are completely out of touch with IB realities and rules. That being said, BofA has a better global platform and higher reputation (at least since 2008) compared to Citi, and they actually pay better bonuses in analyst level than most BBs (at the expense of other senior levels). BofA still managed to put its name on a few mega deals this year and is usually less risk averse than Citi when it comes to leverage its balance sheet to advise in risky LBOs. Citi has a momentum but given how low they started, it’s not that tough to shine by putting a little more effort.
Those who say choose Citi are unfortunately misleading you. BofA pays significantly better bonuses in analyst level, better deal flow and exits. They also take Saturday protection and weekly working hours cap much more seriously to the point that your staffer/CRO will sit outside the group hierarchy and won’t report to your MDs, so more independence brings better hours for juniors. That’s right that Citi seems to have gained a little bit of momentum but dealogic league tables still show Citi behind BofA in M&A.
Dealogic league tables have had Citi ahead of BofA in M&A deal value in recent years 2024, 2022 and 2021 - so by that logic, surely Citi is the more consistent performer? Not the best metric anyway to measure off, since balance sheet banks will always be overstated as they can claim deal value credit for small 'advisory' work, despite only being on the deal for financing (WF is a prime example of this).
Best to measure off M&A fees (as this is a good proxy for how involved the bank was in a process) with which Citi is 4th globally and in EMEA, while BofA is 8th.
The M&A league table below is another prime example of overstating balance sheet banks - Barclays is on-par with Evercore in 2025 by deal value, despite collecting 2x in M&A fees (both as per LSEG).
The graph below also shows Citi ahead of BofA consistently on M&A deal value since 2018, despite BofA outperforming Citi in M&A fees from 2018-2023, showing why it's not the best metric to measure off.
For the analyst level, you can make the argument BofA is the better choice. BofA has a slight edge in terms of brand, deal flow, and analyst comp, although they’re comparable.
However, if you’re interested in being a career banker I’d strongly consider Citi due to the reasons cited above. They’re investing into IB, the bank is gaining share, and leadership has a clear strategy, all of which is the complete opposite at BofA. BofA also pays (and treats) their ASOs, VPs, and Ds like absolute garbage. It’s a TERRIBLE place to be a banker at those levels.
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