Lazard US Views 2026/2027
Considering making the jump from my current role as an ASO
Interested to hear the view analysts/professionals (including current/fmr. bankers at the firm) on Lazard, whether that be:
(i) Lazard 2030 and execution on that front / are the new rainmakers boosting the firm? The timing of this restructuring seems to have hurt them a little bit, especially as their rivals had a killer 2025.
(ii) deal-flow across M&A primarily in their ability to win large cap mandates like Evercore/Goldman/Centerview
(iii) general view on "prestige" and what juniors / incoming analysts think of the firm. I plan on staying in banking, but in case another opportunity arises, how are exits?
(iv) perception on the RX / HC / Industrials groups (along with other groups like Sovereign Advisory) which have long been the predominant coverages that drove Lazard. I know Power is doing very well.
bump, esp on exits for aso & above
Lazard HC def improving, last year was horrendous but they on the up again
What happened last year?
they did 1 deal all year
It is doing ok but it is not, and won't be anytime soon, at EVR/CVP's let alone GS' level in terms of perception or actual performance. That said, it is still a top firm
Any specific reason as to why?
bump, anecdotally have heard great things of culture as of recent
Bump
Overall M&A franchise (especially with this year’s performance) I would say is on par, if not slightly stronger than, PJT/MOE (their closest comps) but still need a few more years of consistent performance before we can say they’re at EVR/CVP level. Will caveat size-wise Laz is about 1/2 of EVR in the US and similar in size to MOE/CVP with PJT being smaller (by like ~25-30%).
Yes the restructuring had a big impact these past few years (a lot of underperforming MDs were pushed out which caused a short term decline in fees due to lost business) but this past year they’ve been making strong additions (see recent hires from BARC/MOE/BofA/Citi/others) which will bring in new business.
I think after taking over from Ken Jacobs, Peter Orszag realized the firm needed to stop relying on old school cachet and modernize (adapting similar playbooks that have worked at the newer boutiques like CVP/PJT/MOE and EVR). This required Laz to suffer somewhat in the short term but firm looks to be coming out stronger.
Does the firm have a larger focus on these larger cap mandates / board-room level advisory (things that CVP has been winning)?
Obviously up to the candidate to perform in buyside interviews but would say Laz is similar in HH perception to PJT M&A and MOE.
Maybe slightly behind EVR (on an overall basis especially as EVR’s Tech + Media + Comms groups have been outperforming). Tough to compare to CVP as CVP’s 3-year analyst program and high pay for A2As disincentivizes exits somewhat and makes oncycle trickier from a pure logistics POV.
Will caveat that this year there were more A2As at Lazard than in previous years as firm is incentivizing A2As by having the promotion take 2 years (vs. 3 which is the case at the other EBs) and offering other benefits (like 1 month PTO “sabbatical”, high promotion bonus, others) to A2As as well as firm-wide perks (1 month of remote work, WFH Monday + Friday, among other things). These, coupled with overcrowded PE mid-levels making path to promotion hard have made more analysts prefer to stay.
How do they compare against JPM?
This is more of a EB vs BB question (both sides have pros and cons) as both are strong platforms. I personally would pick LAZ for higher pay/prefer EB culture, but someone wanting a more general experience (across products) and global name might prefer JPM
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