Top Banks for Healthcare/Best PE Exits

Couldn't find a thread on healthcare team rankings so decided to start one:

Going into junior year and have secured an IB internship for next summer working in healthcare. I do find this industry interesting but just wanted to get more insight into it. 

For starters what are the top banks in this space? I have solid connections to an EB (EVR/CVP/PJT) just wanted to see how these banks healthcare teams are and if it is something to shoot for. I'm also open to trying to switch my focus to M&A rather than being in an industry group and go from there. 

Finally, I wanted to see what exit opportunities the healthcare space offers (this may be a stupid question). What solid PE frims are out there that hire from these groups or is it more lateral hiring to better banks? Thanks in advance for the help.

9 Comments
 

Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's what you need to know about top banks in the healthcare space and the best PE exits:

Top Banks in Healthcare Investment Banking:

  1. Bulge Bracket Banks (BBs):

    • Goldman Sachs (GS): Strong in services and pharma.
    • Barclays (BARC): Does well in services and HCIT.
    • Morgan Stanley (MS): Known for big deals but not high volume.
    • JPMorgan (JPM): Considered the top HC team on the street.
    • Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML): Not as strong as it used to be.
    • Credit Suisse (CS): Similar to BAML, not as strong as before.
    • Citi: Occasionally pops up in the healthcare space.
    • Deutsche Bank (DB): Recently hired new people, future performance to be seen.
  2. Elite Boutiques (EBs):

    • Evercore (EVR): Strong in pharma and services.
    • Centerview Partners (CVP): #1 among boutiques in pharma and services.
    • PJT Partners (PJT): Known for strong healthcare team.
    • Guggenheim Partners: Great in med devices and strong across all three verticals (pharma, services, med devices).
    • Lazard (Laz): Performs well in pharma and services.
  3. Middle Market Banks:

    • Houlihan Lokey (HL): Strong in healthcare services.
    • William Blair (WB): Highly regarded in healthcare services.
    • Harris Williams (HW): Notable in healthcare services.
    • TripleTree: Pure play in healthcare services.
    • Cain Brothers: Pure play in healthcare services.
    • Lincoln International: Strong in healthcare services.
    • Wells Fargo: Notable in healthcare services.
    • Raymond James: Strong in healthcare services.
    • Baird: Notable in healthcare services.
    • BMO: Strong in healthcare services.
    • SunTrust: Notable in healthcare services.
    • Stifel: Strong in healthcare services.

Exit Opportunities in Healthcare:

  1. Private Equity (PE):

    • Healthcare-Focused PE Firms:
      • Water Street: Focuses strictly on healthcare.
      • Harvest Partners: Focuses on a range of industries with a large healthcare focus.
    • Generalist PE Firms: Many analysts move on to generalist funds as well.
  2. Hedge Funds:

    • Healthcare-Focused Hedge Funds: Easier exits for healthcare analysts.
  3. Corporate Development/Business Development (Corp Dev/BD):

    • Many analysts transition to roles in corporate development or business development within healthcare companies.
  4. Venture Capital (VC) and Growth Equity (GE):

    • Analysts often move to healthcare-focused VC and GE firms.

Additional Insights:

  • Healthcare M&A: If you prefer working with clients through the entire process, middle market banks that focus on being advisors at every stage might be a better fit.
  • Future Trends: There is a trend of health systems integrating into outpatient and other offerings to improve their network and patient reach, which could influence M&A activity.

This should give you a comprehensive overview of the top banks in healthcare investment banking and the potential exit opportunities in the space.

Sources: Best Healthcare Investment Banks by Verticals, Top Healthcare Groups for exposure (overall)? (NYC), Questions about Healthcare M&A, Healthcare Services Investment Banks Rankings, Healthcare Exits

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

CVP for EB. To me it's not even close, best in biopharma and know an ex-banker in corp dev that works at a company where CVP is their go-to bank. He seems to think very highly of them.

Jefferies for MM. Ton of exposure to HC Services which is the bulk of healthcare deal flow in the MM PE fund range.

JPM for BB. Their healthcare conference is legendary and the broad exposure to the healthcare industry can't be beat.

 

Thanks for the insight. How should I go about making lateral moves to these firms. Is it best to network and steadily move from mm-bb-eb? Curious if you have any thoughts on this, I’m just not trying to get stuck at current mm bank.

 
Most Helpful

OP asked about best for exits. Biopharma coverage from CVP doesn't exit well into PE (PE doesn't play in biopharma). Once again, Jefferies is a top HC player in the MM but also won't be top for exits. Would likely pick a classic BB or EB with HC coverage beyond biopharma – HCIT, Services, etc...

 

HC is big and diverse enough that there is enough dealflow for everyone. That the general consensus is that JPM HC is the best one. CVP SF runs large cap biopharma sellsides. Moelis and Jeff are very active in sponsor-backed HC services sellsides. PWP is very good at medtech. GS/MS/EVR/LAZ good too for both experience and PE exits.

 

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