Ranking MM Firms?

[Edit: this comment is almost 2 years old. Also, ranking threads are still absolutely fucking deplorable]

So first of all, I really hate these ranking threads, because most of the information people post is either outdated or flat-out wrong. But I wanted to present some raw data so people can interpret the results on their own. I ran a quick Bloomberg league table with these criterion:

Target Region: United States

Date Range: YTD

Transaction Type: M&A ONLY - I think this is valid because the majority of TRUE MM firms focus almost exclusively on M&A

Average Deal Value: < $1B (this is a somewhat arbitrary cutoff for what I will define as "MM")

Here are the top 10 banks ranked by *total deal value* (TDV: total deal value, ADV: average deal value, n: deal count):

*1. UBS: TDV = 16.5B, ADV = 749m, n = 22
2. Stifel: 15.9B, 305m, 52
3. Baird: 10.0B, 238m, 42
4. Sandler O'Neill: 8.2B, 265m, 31
5. Houlihan Lokey: 8.2B, 97m, 84
6. William Blair: 7.4B, 118m, 63
7. BMO: 6.8B, 338m, 20
8. Raymond James: 4.4B, 77m, 57
9. Cowen: 4.3B, 619m, 7
10. Valence Group: 4.0B, 669m, 6

Now, obviously UBS is not a MM; if we remove it, the next up would be Canaccord Genuity: TDV = 3.2B, ADV = 154m, n = 21.

Irrespective of order, I think the majority of the firms on this list fit the profile of a “strong MM” in the US. However, you still have a couple wildcards, namely, Valence Group and Canaccord Genuity.

To address this, I tried ranking by *Deal Count*, as opposed to Total Deal Value:

1. Houlihan Lokey: TDV = 8.2B, ADV = 97m, n = 84
2. William Blair: 7.4B, 118m, 63
3. Raymond James: 4.4B, 77m, 57
4. Stifel: 15.9B, 305m, 52
5. Baird: 10.0B, 238m, 42
6. Lincoln International: 780m, 20m, 39
7. Piper Jaffray: 2.2B, 61m, 37
8. Sandler O'Neill, 8.2B, 265m, 31
9. PNC: 2.1B, 88m, 24

*10. UBS: 16.5B, 749m, 22

Once again, UBS is obviously not a MM. Also, Piper Jaffray and Sandler O'Neill are merging, so they are technically double-counted. Accordingly, the next two up on the list would be:
11. Canaccord Genuity: TDV = 3.2B, ADV = 154m, n = 21
12. KeyBanc Capital Markets: 2.2B, 104m, 21

Here are some of my key takeaways from this:

a) UBS needs to pick up the slack

b) Baird is on an absolute TEAR this year

c) Lincoln has solid deal flow, but I was greatly surprised by how small their deals are.

d) Canaccord Genuity and KeyBanc are doing better than I would have guessed.

e) The "in-between" banks (Wells Fargo, RBC, Jefferies) really are an anomaly, considering they don't appear on either of these lists.

For some added depth, here are their stats:

Wells Fargo: TDV = 60.4B, ADV = 2.1B, n = 29

*RBC: 155.5B, 4.7B, 33

Jefferies: 123.0B, 1.9B, 69

RBC's data is HEAVILY skewed by the fact that they are doing the fairness opinion on Raytheon + United Technologies, a 90B deal. If you adjust for that, RBC's stats are: TDV = 65.5B, ADV = 2.0B

As an aside, I would be greatly interested in seeing how these banks stack up when you control for the size of their workforces. Something like ADV / # of MDs would be very interesting. Some of these firms run much leaner than others, making it that much more impressive for them to crack the top 10. Additionally, there are other banks that may not have made it in the top 10, but are doing extremely well given their team sizes.

Anyway, I hope this helps shed some light on the ACTUAL data, rather than simply speculating based on word-of-mouth from reading other WSO posts.