Updated London 2025 BB/EB Tier Rankings

OP, this is what happens when you unnecessarily include the US tag for a post about London / EMEA.

Please understand: there is quite literally no EB anywhere near the reputation of the top three in Europe. We are Europeans - we are always a few years behind the US, we generally don’t believe in “hyper-growth” companies, we are more conservative and more pessimistic, our corporates (for the most part) aren’t flush with capital, and we have significantly fewer mega-cap compounders whose only route for growth is inorganic. Historically, Americans are the risk-taking investment bankers; we are the boring accountants - just look at the founders of US BBs and the Big 4 firms.

Yes, an EB like CVP can be founded only 19 years ago and win a J&J mandate over BofA because they don’t need the extra financing, have been aggressively acquiring for decades, and can experiment with advisors that offer "truly differentiated / bespoke advice". But in Europe, our operators generally prefer to stick with the usual advisor who is cheaper and, if possible, can also provide financing or at least capital markets advice.

As for European EBs, companies here have typically existed for longer and value long-term relationships with a Rothschild that has decades of familiarity with their business, far more than the expensive American salesman trying to make a quick buck offering “super cool and unique, truly value-creating advice” to a French car component manufacturer making a simple acquisition for geographic expansion into DACH.

OP’s list is mostly correct for Europe and will continue to be so until European culture becomes more aligned with that across the pond. For the US, yes, it is much more subjective, and you can start doing all those ridiculous KPIs you’ve drafted. Realistically, there are two reasons we all pursue this career: pay and/or exits. The pay delta is materially insignificant at the junior level considering the LTV of this career, and arguments can be made that (even in the US) you are much more likely to become one of those rainmaking MDs at an EB after carving your reputation at a BB as a moderately senior MD.

In the US, PJT, EVR, and Q (for tech exits) have the best exits - this is really where per-capita KPIs mean anything at the junior level - followed by MS / GS / CVP / select JPM groups. In Europe, per-capita exits are dominated by GS / MS / JPM by a landslide, so unless you have dual citizenship, the prior sentence is absolutely irrelevant to this discussion.

Thx