Grouping Investment Banks 2022
Hi everyone,
With so many threads and arguments about IB rankings, I think it would be better to group banks instead. This would provide a better idea of where a bank's IBD division stands versus its competitors. These groups don't necessarily tell whether these banks are the 'best' or 'worst' on the Street. Just how the bank's overall IB division performs and the general opportunities that analysts receive after leaving the firm. Working in IB is already a great accomplishment, and I believe this method of organizing these banks can help IB prospects who are unfamiliar with how these firms are generally placed.
The sources I used for these groups include Vault, WSJ IB rankings, CapIQ, WSO's IB ranking threads, and much more. Feel free to contribute with your thoughts and recommendations.
Bulge Brackets (BB):
- Group 1: Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley (these names are listed in A-Z order)
- Group 2: Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse
- Group 3: Deutsche Bank, UBS
Elite Boutiques (EB):
- Group 1: Centerview, Evercore, PJT, Qatalyst
- Group 2: Lazard, Moelis, PWP
- Group 3: Greenhill, Guggenheim, Solomon Partners? (threads with Solomon were ranked all over the place)
Middle Markets and Others (unsure how these would be grouped):
- Group X (banks with a "well known" brand): Houlihan Lokey, Jefferies, RBC, Rothchild, Baird, Harris Williams, Lincoln, Piper Sandler, Raymond James, William Blair, Wells Fargo, Macquarie, Cowen, BMO, Oppenheimer, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Stifel, Nomura, Mizuho, Key, Société Générale, TD, Santander, Scotiabank, Stephens, SMBC, US Bank, MUFG, Truist, Mediobanca, Wedbush, Brown Gibbons Lang, Cantor Fitzgerald, Capstone Partners, DA Davidson, Daiwa, DC Advisory, Kroll, M Klein, Allen & Co., LionTree, Berkery Noyes Co, Alantra, Marathon Capital,
- Group Y (small/regional boutiques, eg. Citizens Bank)
There’s some Solomon delusion on this site from shills. Belong in the MM group
Solomon is definitely not MM. since august 2021 we’ve advised on six deals over $1 billion, even being the exclusive sell side advisor on the $5bn sale of the Bountiful Company to Nestle and the exclusive buy side advisor to Prime Therapeutics on the $1.4bn acquisition of Magellan RX. I know a lot of people who could see the firm being the next Centerview in the coming decade should the firm’s growth in winning huge deals and bringing in top talent.
Touch grass
What a strange comment. Some MM banks (Blair, Baird, etc) likely advised on 6 $1bn+ transactions in a month or two in 2021 but no one arguing they’re not MM firms. Odd flex.
For banks like Liontree, Allen, Ardea and Solomon, they should be tiered into another category titled "Industry Boutique" as they tend to focus on a specific industry and can't really be grouped into EBs and MMs.
What industry would Solomon fall under? They seem to do a lot of things
Not really. Their bread and butter has and always will be consumer and retail deals.
Solomon is nowhere near the level of an Allen or LT. I’m not even hating, it’s just the truth. Not sure why everyone seems to think something different recently
No, I agree. I'm just saying OP should've made a separate grouping with the subtiers. So Industry Boutique Tier 1 would be Qatalyst, LT, Allen, etc and Tier 2 would be Ardea and Solomon.
Would group PJT on the same tier as PWP unless if its RSG. Their M&A team is not on par.
MS me but league tables don’t lie
Rankings are bullshit, but PJT M&A gets hate for no reason.
Average deal size per banker is up there with CVP and their M&A team still exits incredibly well.
You’re incorrect. Revenue per head is a far better metric to use than deal size per head. Deal size along with deal volume = revenue.
Again, league tables don’t lie. Historically PJT ranked below EVR, CVP, PWP, MOELIS, and LAZ on league tables because although they are mandated on large multi billion dollar deals, the frequency of M&A deals is not on par.
Bro this shit has been rehashed a hundred times on this site -- people aren't on here ranking these firms on how much money the group makes (league tables). The forum is full of college students and new grads, so they're ranking based on the analyst program. PJT M&A has top of street comp and exits -- the two things analysts actually care about. As an analyst, I would be happier if my group has no deal flow -- my bonus will change at maximum by 10 or 15k and at least I wouldn't have to work as much. At the end of the day, in the mass majority of cases, a candidate with a PJT M&A offer would take it over a PWP M&A offer. I know with certainty that William Blair's tech group makes more money than half the BB's tech groups do. If we had league tables for tech and you could see this, and I had a William Blair Tech offer and a CS Tech offer, would you encourage me to take the Blair offer?
Tiers work for BB and MM but in my eyes all EB are virtually the same. Choosing between EVR/CVP/PJT/PWP/MOE/LAZ is pure preference and situation tbh. Virtually the same pay, exits, and prestige.
+1 to this, but would add that groups matter a fair bit for each EB. Eg PJT RSSG, EVR M&A, CVP NY, MOE LA, LAZ RSSG/HC are all a fair bit better than other groups.
Agreed. EVR M&A, PJT RSSG, CVP HC, PWP HC, MOE LA, LAZ HC are the top. But other than that it's the same jargon.
Agree except if you’re interested in tech, in which case no EB comes close to Qatalyst
Fair
Missing a few names like SVB Securities, FT Partners, and Canaccord Genuity.
Lazard>>>>
People in these comments: 😡😡🤬🤬😡this sob just ranked my bank tier two
explain to me why FT Partners isn't ranked higher than CVP?
Centerview > Solomon >>>>> FT Partners
Considering how every ranking thread gets MSed to oblivion, do you people just think "Nah, won't happen to me. They're gonna love mine!"
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