DEFINITIVE RANKINGS PRE 2023 RECRUITING SEASON

Alright fellow monkeys, recruiting for this cycle is about to start heating up. Restructuring is finishing up, the Elite Boutiques are in motion, and Bulge Bracket firms are coming to campuses. Below are the indisputable rankings coming into this year:

Top Tier - Exits to MFPE will be available to anyone at these firms, regardless of group in IB. The difference between these firms is honestly pretty inconsequential but you know how people on this firm are so I'd imagine a bloodbath ensues either way

1A. Centerview, Goldman, Evercore, Lazard, PJT, Morgan Stanley

1B. PWP, JP Morgan, Moelis

Tier 2 - Great firms, consistent deal flow, going to be a little bit group dependent when it comes to exits

2A. BAML, Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse

2B. M Klein, Greenhill

Tier 3 - Still solid firms, ability to exit to MMs / great reputations on the street

3A. RBC, UBS, Guggenheim, LionTree, Rothschild

3B. DB (despite what people say it is still a great gig all things considered), PJ Solomon, Wells Fargo, Houlihan Lokey, SVB Leerink

Tier 4 - Going to be hard to have great exits, but still going to make six figures and have opportunities to lateral, venture into PE/VC, even hedge funds if you play your cards right

4A. HW, Piper, Lincoln

4B. Cowen, Macquarie, Stifel, Mizuho, BMO

All of these places are fantastic places to start a career at, and at the end of the day, where you start isn't going to matter as much as people think. For those who stay in finance, they have a 30-40 year career in front of them, the shop they start out at won't matter that much.