Investment Banking Rankings 2019
Found this on an old thread. I believe it’s fairly accurate already, especially at the WF / RBC tier. However maybe we can move some names around and arrive at a new 2019 ranking? Share your thoughts
A) The Dream Team:
1: Evercore, PJT (slight favorance to evercore)
1.5: GS, MS, Lazard, Moelis
B) Warriors:
2: JPM, Centerview, Greenhill, Perella Weinberg Partners
2.5: CS, BAML
___________C) Mega fund cut line___________
3: Barclays
3.5: DB, Citi, Houlihan, Jefferies
4: UBS, Roths of the world like Liontree
5: Wells Fargo, RBC,BMO
___________D) Don't even think about PE line___________
6: HSBC, Baird, Blair, Lazard MM, Stephens, That shit IB in Richmond can’t remember, MTS Health Partners, Stifel, KBW,Other no name boutiques, Regional bank IB like Key bank, Foreign banks with no deal flow like Mizuho/Nomura/SocGen
In tier 6 I’d include Stephens, Stifel, MTS health partners, Leerink, Piper Jaffray, BB&T, William Blair, etc
Depends on what we're ranking. If the focus is strictly on perceived banker skill/prestige/dealflow I'd shift a number.
GS (probably also MS) up to tier 1
Lazard down to tier 2
Centerview up to Tier 1.5 (debatably tier 1 if just looking at M&A but I think their RX practice is less strong)
JPM up to tier 1.5 (Though towards the bottom of that grouping)
Greenhill down to tier 3 (tbh I haven't heard much about them recently, and I'm not sure if they're still struggling as much as they were a few years ago)
I'd move CS and BAML up to tier 2
Barclays, Citi, and Houlihan probably all in tier 2.5 (certain groups at Barclays and Citi that kill it)
RBC up to tier 3 or 3.5 (debatable but I think they're really growing and I expect them to have a better future than DB)
I'd be less sure of these shifts if we were basing things strictly off of exits, which the Megafund cut-off line in the initial post seems to imply.
Why drop Lazard so low?
This list is completely inaccurate.
Hahaha I love that
Where would we rank Guggenheim Partners on this list? Just curious since they've been on some mega-deals. Their TMT and HC groups in particular kill it, or so I've heard
BMO above Blair and Baird is just dumb
Put some respect on GS.
OP's ranking favors boutiques a bit.
1: GS, MS 1.5: Evercore, PJT, Centerview, JPM
2: Lazard, Moelis, PWP, BAML, CS 2.5: Greenhill, Citi, Barclays
3: DB, HL, Jefferies, Rothschild, Guggenheim 4: UBS, RBC, Wells
Group 2 might be slightly controversial, but I think the top BAML/CS groups could warrant them to be placed with Moelis/PWP. I think Lazard is the strongest in that group.
I'll take a job at any LOL
Where are we putting STRH?
STRH is probably at the mid-bottom range of 6. They aren't that far removed from your commercial banks like Fifth Third or BBVA and are just a small step up.
Does anyone know the rankings for the EMEA? My guess is that most of the boutiques will be shifted to lower tiers and if anyone can elaborate it's really appreciated
Certainly a big bump in rankings for Rothschild if you are talking EMEA. By far their strongest region, and within M&A they are a top performer compared to any of the banks in this ranking.
Having regional presence is foundamental in EMEA, because every market is different (and every language), so BBs have an obvious advantage (I.e: JPM is really strong in france and Italy). Despite are gaining ever more market share, places like CVP, PJT, EVR, PWP and MoCo almost don’t have local presence. Having said that, PJT is almost considered on par with tier 1 BBs (GS/MS/JPM) in terms of prestige and I believe slightly above JPM and MS even on an experience point of view (Analysts do both M&A and Rx). Other EBs, apart from LAZ, rank a bit below RTH, BAML, Citi and CS.
This is not helpful
Are you referring to PJT's M&A or Rx practice?
Why do people do this all the time? And wouldn’t a ranking that is more group-focused be indicative of “prestige”?
To stroke their broken egos as they are berated by MDs
Anyone have thoughts on UBS possibly picking up Ex BAML IB head Christian Meissner as CEO? Could the firms focus switch back to IB and less on Wealth Management?
Where did everyone get such a hard on for PJT and even RSSG specifically? 1) Honestly think the "technical" learning that goes on at the analyst level on restructurings is overhyped, though at a high level the transactions may be fascinating 2) A lot of your clients are obsolete industrial shitcos 3) Exits are pretty niche
So, the group worked on Greece, GM, etc. and that's cool, but I'd love to know what PJT has first year analysts just back from their spring break trips to Mykonos doing for Greece. Probably not thrilling stuff tbh. Might be incredible to be an MD in this group, but I'd be curious to hear about an analyst's experience. Also, in so far as the exits... why's everyone want to do distressed debt? Not being sarcastic, just curious. Seriously though, why not just go to law school?
Distressed debt investors have the greatest ability to screw over other people. Just look at toys r us. Company could've continued running but the biggest debt holders hold all the power so they decided to vote to liquidate, putting thousands of employees out of work. The typical WSO user has been screwed over by jocks and popular kids their whole life, and now they want the opportunity to take some power back.
BMO above Blair and Baird is just dumb.
Blair should be above BMO and Baird, as well as Wells Fargo. They are killing it, especially in Chicago where they are headquartered. I would take Blair over all three of those banks without a doubt
why would you make that choice? Is BMO and Baird not a destination choice for a career?
Baird has great culture, consistently ranks in best places to work which is absurd for a bank. But Blair is now cracking $1B deals, fairly often in their S&I group (services and industrials), and their consumer team is on a tear. Both banks recruit heavily at my school due to alumni connections and Baird is a tier below a Blair offers. Even if you look out West, recently spoke to an alumni at BMO there who told me how Blair came out of nowhere and is now beating out the competitors there consistently on mandates
BMO is nowhere near the level Blair is in Chicago, and even out West is getting beat pretty often. Would put on the same level as Baird
(My viewpoint comes from speaking with numerous alumni including analysts through MDs at two of the banks, and associates / VPs at the third)
This is hilariously inaccurate - especially w/r/t the middle market banks. I guess that's what you get from a "prospective" or "incoming."
Stick to the grind young lads - you'll get there.
The 365 day pissing contest never ceases to amaze me on the IB forum.
"That shit in Richmond" (assuming you are talking about HW) places well into MM PE. They literally only sell businesses to PE shops and senior bankers will help the junior guys get placed because they see it as just another contact they can leverage in the future
How’s the weather in Richmond
Fucking cold - 10" of snow expected this weekend
This is dead on. All of HW is a financial sponsors coverage group
Don't they have like 90% - 100% PE placement for analysts?
You literally copy-pasted this from that self-proclaimed recruiter (donny-ma?) that used to post around here dishing out his view on banks. If you're gonna do this at least put some original thought into it.
Read the very first sentence of my post...........
Looks like I found the bottom bucket analyst
Baird and especially Blair can most definitely think about PE. No way BMO is above them as others have said, not in this lifetime. I'd bump GS/MS up to 1, Centerview and JPM to 1.5. CS/BAML can be bumped to 2. I'd also group Guggenheim/Barclays/Citi in group 3. Guggs is getting better and Barclays/Citi have good exits depending on the group (from what I've heard). I'd put Allen with Jefferies. Also Qatalyst deserves to be on there, but I don't know enough to say exactly where.
Some other nits--Houlihan is really only strong in restructuring from what I can tell, so that ranking is kinda group dependent. Greenhill might need to come down since I don't know if they do as much as they used to.
Editing to put Centerview up to a firm group 1 ranking with Evercore, would put Centerview above PJT.
Hmm .. very informative but it’s so subjective to group at each bank
EliteStudent11 Do you even have a job
EB baby
You seem lame.
Last week you had a job at a HF and the week before MF PE... impressive.
What about MUFG?
Since when was there a distinct gap dividing BAML/CS/Barclays/Citi? Always thought dealflow/exit opps were similar relative to group quality.
Anyone who takes this post seriously is a fool
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