Top Middle Market Investment Banks
Who are the kings of the Middle Market? Curious to hear thoughts on Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3.
Can take into account deal numbers + size, office culture, comp, perks (dinner stipends, etc.)
Desjardins Capital Markets
Bump
Jefferies tier 1
Tier 1: Jeff
Tier 2: Blair, Baird, HL
Tier 3: HW, Piper, RJ, Solomon
Excluding the balance sheet in-between banks (WF, BMO, RBC)
what makes them balance sheet banks?
not sure why people get MS for asking questions on here. They're balance sheet banks because they have large consumer deposit bases they can use to lend to enterprises. They essentially are able to meaningfully participate in the loan facilities of their clients, which buys them goodwill, that they then attempt to convert into ancillary revenue, such as M&A, ECM, and DCM mandates. The distinction is a little blurred for BAML and JPM for instance, because they obviously have large balance sheets and do a lot of lending but also lean on their historically strong advisory franchise to generate mandates.
Idk if I’d put Blair on the same level as HL. HL doesn’t seem to have layoff issues, yeah they compete but in terms of job security, brand name, and even compensation now, hl definitely is only half a tier below Jefferies. Jefferies is more umm than mm. Talking pure mm it has to go to HL and Baird followed by Blair HW RJ and then comes stifel piper wells rbc etc
I won’t comment on the tiers cuz I think it’s just dumb but to give color on HL’s strategy.
Management doesn’t even have the goal of trying to move up market and compete with JEF. The strategy isn’t to complete more deals above $1bn, it’s to dominate in under $1bn and have extremely strong sector and sub sector focus (hence HL’s acquisition strategy). Do we complete deals above $1bn, yes absolutely, but the focus is to dominate below $1bn and we do. Overall, I think management has a smart well balanced strategy and shareholders seem to support it.
Now I think people can follow what this strategy translates to, a lot of volume which is a lot of work. By and large I think HL has a good non-toxic culture (from what I’ve seen in NY) but it can be sweaty cuz of the volume. Comp the last few years has been nothing to write home about but it also wasn’t $0 bonuses like at Blair. And tbf, that’s what we should expect, revenues have been down to flat. I will note the recent base bumps for analysts bring them to market. Sounds like at the senior levels, base salaries are lower than market but when you look at how long some of these guys have stuck around… it speaks to the fact that if you bring deals in, you get rewarded. Biggest downside is the promotion ladder is excessively long and to make matters worse, they are stingy with early promos but on the flip side they haven’t done layoffs.
Overall, HL is a very steady eddie platform. Highs probably aren’t as high but the lows aren’t as low. Goal is to compete and dominate across a wide variety of niches and this has been supported with a lot of tuck-ins of specialized advisors.
Tier 1: Jefferies, Stifel, Raymond James
Tier 2: William Blair, Lincoln, Piper
Tier 3: Oppenheimer, Stephens
No HL? No Baird?
Stifel as T1.
No No No. Just wrong. Please stop posting.
Congrats on Stifel!
RBC (pls dont tell LowCaliberTalent)
Jeff is definitely top in MM. Follow by Blair and HL. Then HW, RJ / Piper and so forth. Speaking more holistically but each of these firms have certain product or industry that they really well in. It’s seriously just splitting hairs. Question is what do you want to cover, location and long term goal? If PE exit is what you’re gunning for then Jeff / Blair and Hw will give you the best exits from what I have seen.
Almost completely group dependent.
Exactly, and just to prove this point...
Auto - Jeffries T&S - Blair Industrials - Baird Healthcare - HL AD&G - Baird Media - HL Energy - Jeffries
Even within a group like consumer it varies by vertical.
HL dominates within the food space.
RJ does the most beauty/personal care deals.
Baird does a lot of outdoor goods.
Etc
Have heard HL dominates with in office snacks
Has Guggenheim separated itself from the MM banks with its success?
Not really. Although some groups are strong, some are worse then a lot of the UMM banks
Gugg consumer blows
How is Goldman CMG?
I would definitely rank HL above most. Seems they do well and it's getting pretty competitive. HW maybe towards the bottom but not sure
Heard HL has the best snacks
Yeah until they fill it up with healthy nasty shit the next week. People hoard all the good snacks on every floor
All of these firms are EXACTLY the same.
The only thing that matters is who gives you the best economic deal with the least “management” interference. So forget JEF which has hired a lot of expensive but pointless managers but the rest are all the same:
I’ll throw my thoughts out as someone who did two years at a MM bank and now in UMM PE:
T1a: Jefferies
T1b: Houlihan Lokey, William Blair, Harris Williams, Baird
T2: Piper Sandler, Raymond James, Rothschild, Solomon Partners, Guggenheim
T3: TD Cowen, Stifel, Lincoln, KeyBanc, Oppenheimer, Citizens JMP, Truist, Macquarie
T4+: Long list of names with firms who play in the LMM/MM space such as Cascadia Capital, Stephens, Capstone Partners, B Riley, Brown Gibbons Lang, etc.
With all that being said, I would note that rankings are a) dependent on group and b) dependent on what you are looking for out of your experience. The above rankings are generally based on deal volume, deal size, and perceived reputation/prestige. Based on your own criteria you may rank banks either higher or lower.
For example, on the group side, Jeffries has a well regarded Lev. Fin team, Houlihan has a well regarded Restructuring team, Raymond James has a well regarded Technology team, etc., etc. Each shop will generally have a group/team/senior banker who is well regarded in their industry group.
Separately, each of these firms will rank higher or lower based on what you are looking for from your experience. For example, Harris Williams and William Blair primarily focus on sell-side advisory and thus have strong exits to MM/UMM PE (Jefferies, Houlihan Lokey, and Baird also place fairly well given their reputation). Firms like TD Cowen, Solomon Partners, Citizens JMP will offer more comprehensive advisory solutions including equity research, debt capital markets, SPAC advisory, etc. Firms like Jefferies, Houlihan Lokey, and Baird will have large restructuring practices. T1 & T2 shops will tend to pay top of street with tougher work-life balance whereas T3 & T4+ shops will tend to pay less but have better work-life balance (caveat is firm and group dependent but making generalizations here).
All in all, at the end of the day rankings here are subjective and would encourage folks to do their own research into each firm, their groups, and pros/cons. Vault has some fairly decent rankings and there are numerous threads here on WSO talking into specifics of each bank.
Thoughts on Cowen, Gugg, and RJ in 2024 and beyond?
RJ pretty group dependent.
Best groups there are definitely tech, consumer (previously Financo), and have also heard good things about real estate.
X
They took a couple it services mds in from Blair in Chicago
How is Gugg a MM if they work on deals like Pfizer-Seagen ($43bn) and Disney-Fox ($85bn)?
Work in MM/UMM PE ($5bn fund) and we get a ton of CIMs from HW, WB, Baird, RJ, JEF, even Moelis for companies valued around $500mm-$1bn. I think I’ve only seen 3 Gugg CIMs in 4 years (same with PJT and PWP).
in 2024 cowen is in tier 2, especially hc / tech coverage
Bump
I agree ^^^ just cause I’m a cowen guy gonna say they’re higher lmaoo.
Left Lane associates
how is jefferies positioned against BB for PE exits?
1a. Jeff
2. HL, HW, Baird, WB
3. Piper, Gugg, Rothschild, RJ, Solomon, Truist
4. TD Cowen, Lincoln, Stifel, KeyBanc, Oppenheimer, Macquarie
Based off who I’ve pitched again / seen win pitches. Group dependent obviously, but ranking based closer to overall firm win rate. Important to note that most of the MM is really relationship based with a lot of repeat business. PE shops can also cycle their deals to keep multiple banks in the loop. (i.e. Bairds turn, next deal HW, etc.). Hard to box an entire firm into a “rank”, and once you hit the desk you realize it’s pretty irrelevant, just matters what transactions you’re on.
.
rc t2, Cowen t2/3, Solomon t2, truist t4
Stifel, Key, Opp&Co are tiers below Cowen / Lincoln and significantly below RC, Piper etc.
Not sure why posters are ranking them so low but Guggenheim is definitely at least on par with Jefferies/tier 1a overall and better in many groups (HC, PEAG, RX, SPO).
It’s in reference to their MM practice, not the firm overall
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