MM IB Tier List
I know it’s cringy to do tier lists but here are my opinions on the main middle market IB firms.
Baird/Blair
HW/HL
Lincoln/Piper
RJ/BLG/BMO
Would love to hear what you guys think about the list and your opinions on each firm! Feel free to add any companies that I may have left out as well.
Jefferies, Wells, RBC, and Roth are not in any way middle market. They may not be BBs but putting them in the category of MM doesnt make sense because their business strategy has nothing in common with a typical MM bank like Blair/Baird.
Lincoln International has great standing outside of the US including mainland Europe. Not on EB level but certainly moving up
you agree with where I placed it on the list?
an argument could be made that it should be with HW/HL. They've also brought over some HL MDs/Directors the last few years if that means anything.
Lincoln is a solid shop, but it is not on par with Blair, Baird and HL.
Very group dependent, but probably same tier as Piper. Chemicals team is doing $250mm - $1B deals. C&R team will go down to $50 million. They are pitching against HL/Blair/Baird/Piper/Ray Jay/Key/BB&T on a frequent basis.
It is/was distinct, similar to LMM in various industry verticals or products (DCM). Used to be run by Andy Torgrove but not sure if he is still leading it or only internal facing now (COO)
There is some cross-staffing, but LMM is its own silo. It is correct that analysts are cross-staffed with the exception fo a couple of groups (Food & Ag had dedicated analysts, but is now broadly C&R, so not sure if that still holds).
NYC was heavy on TMT, C&R, Debt advisory and Rx. Not sure if it has grown or not.