What are the top 5 Middle Market Investment Banks these days?
Just curious. I feel like the list shifts every year. Which MM IB's are generally accepted as the top 5 these days?
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Well, to start off, Credit Suisse ;)
SVB
Jefferies
Not really a middle market anymore
In no particular order: Baird, Jefferies, William Blair, Harris Williams, Houlihan Lokey - end of discussion.
What about Rothschild or Guggenheim?
Yeah, and where are Goldman and Evercore?
Also genuinely would like to know where these two stand comparatively
I wouldn’t really say those are your traditional “Mm” shops they target larger deals, they just don’t get them done as much as other large boutique like EVR/Moe
Always had the impression Rothschild was below MM in the US but above MM in Europe. And Guggenheim is a somewhat secretive very niche place that isn't really what you would think of as your typical MM shop, sort of like Allen & Co or arguably Q (not secretive)
Congrats on Harris Williams!
He’ll be thankful for that decision come bonus time…
not all of these count as a bank
William Blair, Baird, Houlihan Lokey, Raymond James, Piper Sandler
One of these banks is unlike the others…..
Enlighten us
Raymond James has been making moves. Give em credit
Del
RayJ real estate and security & safety teams are also strong players in the MM
more like Jeff/HL Restructuring > Baird / Blair > HL corp finance > HW
Congrats on Baird! Other than industrials they are not stronger than HL corp fin, HW, or many other MMs listed above. Some teams like their healthcare just pitch bc they can't land anything.
What about Stifel?
Didn’t close a single deal while working there for 2 years
NYC based group?
Another day another worthless ranking thread
This question is like asking what is the best car company? Or what is the best alcoholic drink company. There is competitive differentiation where each firm carves out niches and great practices in specific areas. it’s too large a market with too many transactions to have unilateral dominance. Sure, we can say Heineken is more prestigious than coors and white claws are “elite” but it’s really a strategy to go after different parts of the market.
Med-Device—Piper Sandler is way better than anyone else
Rx—No one comes close to HL.
Vertical Software—the tech group is basically an EB at WB
I don’t know enough about other mm firms, but rankings are pretty meaningless since they ignore competitive strategy and the reality that all these firms differentiate and the best MD’s move to places where they have the best economics. Names that are all certainly in the mix:
Jefferies, William Blair, Guggenheim, Baird, Houlihan Lokey, FT Partners, Harris Williams, Raymond James, Cowen
William Blair, Baird, Piper Sandler, Jefferies, Houlihan Lokey
While I do always find ranking threads kinda dumb / pointless, this would be the "default" top five IMO.
.
In all honesty the only relevant MM groups are
Jeff (Almost all groups)
HL (Rx, Consumer, Industrials)
Baird (Industrials, Gov/defense)
Blair (Tech, HC)
RayJ (Tech, Consumer)
HW (Industrials)
Gugg (Basically all of PEAG)
Piper (HC, Industrials)
These are the major players in the MM space. Very hard to MM banks as they are so group dependent. For example, comparing Blair and Baird is apples to oranges, because of how different their focus is. Blair Tech vs Baird Tech is not even comparable by any metric. Same goes for Baird Industrials vs Blair Industrials.
Roth consumer RX or industrials?
Gugg is accurate from what I've heard. They've aggressively been trying to grow their PEAG team and I heard their HC / Tech teams aren't what they once were.
Where does Stifel compare to the others on this list? Better or worse?
10 steps below
How about Lincoln?
Bump
Doesn’t even come close to big players
How's Keybanc?
Yeah and how's BGL Cleveland?
B. Riley Securities inching up
G
These threads are so cringe. Rankings are stupid, in general, but particularly in the middle market, as others have mentioned and we've discussed multiple times.
But to see the amount of people wondering why their random bank isn't listed in someone's arbitary Top 5 MM banks takes the cake
Thoughts on HW consumer?
This is a nonsense question. Top 5 based on what criteria?
BGL Cleveland group is #1 in the League Tables for sell-side M&A engagements, with clients from the midwest, in which EV is between $159M - $201M and the client is specifically within the home repair subvertical of industrial. Absolutely beast mode bro, literally number 1.
Don’t forget family-owned.
Don’t forget family-owned.
1) Tyton Partners - Small headcount but absolutely elite engagements. MDs are brilliant.
2) Truist Capital Markets - Wicked successful in scaling & developing M&A practice post-merger. Will be up there with Wells / Citi in a decade. Highly recommend getting in here, if you can, while you can.
3) Stifel - Absolute inorganic growth machine. If there is anything they don't do phenomenally right now, they'll acquire a business to fit that piece of the puzzle within a few years. Again, see massive upside ahead for these guys. Will grow well beyond the Baird's & Blair's of the world.
4) KeyBanc - They're a better Baird than Baird, in terms of having a monster of a MM industrials practice out in the midwest
4) Cantor Fitzgerald - Managed to be #3 on SPAC League Tables last year despite being 1 / 100th of the size of all other banks in the top 10.
5) KPMG Corporate Finance - Totally underrated global reach with a pre-established client roster from their other professional services businesses
This guy smoking the corporate propaganda
GD, missed the sarcasm like a rookie
Why is Stifel garbage mate?
Rank 1 - Brown Gibbons Lang
Rank 2 - Aeris Partners
Rank 3 - Stephens
Rank 4 - Cascadia Capital
Rank 5 - Solomon Partners
Honorable mentions - KeyBanc, Rothschild, Truist, Tobin & Co
BGL is a better Keybanc than Keybanc bro
Cascadia Capital should be nowhere near any list, respectfully.
You should be nowhere near banking if you didn’t get the sarcasm.
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