Boutique Investment Banks: The Lesser Known Names of Wall Street
Not everyone gets to work at Goldman Sachs and not everyone necessarily should as talented bankers could be better compensated at the higher-paying elite boutique investment banks.
A boutique investment bank is sometimes referred to as a “non-full service bank”, a “non-bulge bracket bank”, a “middle market investment bank”, or a “regional investment bank”. Boutique investment banks typically specialize in a specific investment banking service, cover a specific business industry, or operate in a specific geographic location.
Boutique Investment Bank Example Categories
- Service Specialties: Mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, debt restructuring, etc.
- Industry Specialties: Technology, media, healthcare, industrials, retail, energy, finance, etc.
- Geographic Specialties: US Westcoast, US Midwest, US Eastcoast, Europe, South America, etc.
These banks are typically much smaller than the big-name bulge bracket banks (Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, etc.) and participate in much smaller transactions (deals under $1 billion).
Note: Elite boutique investment banks are exceptional boutique banks that manage to advise on large transactions (over $1 billion). These elite boutique banks carry a high level of prestige and generally pay analysts well above the average compensation packages found at bulge-bracket banks.
The Top Boutique Investment Banks List
The list below summarizes the top 20 boutique investment banks in 2023.
- Lazard
- Evercore
- Centerview Partners
- PJT
- Perella Weinberg Partners
- Moelis & Company
- Qatalyst
- Greenhill
- LionTree
- Allen & Company
- Guggenheim Partners
- Jefferies
- Houlihan Lokey
- Rothschild & Co
- Piper Sandler
- Robey Warshaw
- Gordon Dyal & Co
- Baird
- Seabury Capital Group
- FT Partners
Lazard
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Lazard is an elite boutique investment bank that consistently ranks in the top 10 for mergers and acquisitions deals (ranked 6th in 2022 for investment banking mergers and acquisitions fee revenue and 1st for boutique investment banks) amongst major players like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan. The company’s restructuring team is top-notch, being one of the most well-regarded and prestigious company restructuring teams on Wall Street.
- Notable Teams: Restructuring, Healthcare Advisory, Consumer & Retail Advisory
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets, Corporate Advisory, Restructuring
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: First Republic Bank (Financial Advisory), Bridgepointe Technologies (Acquisition)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: $205,000
Evercore
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Evercore is another elite boutique investment bank that fights toe-to-toe with Lazard and other big-name banks (ranked 7th in 2022 for investment banking mergers and acquisitions fee revenue and 2nd for boutique investment banks). The firm is known for developing technically adept analysts capable of taking on complex strategic transactions.
- Notable Teams: Restructuring
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Restructuring, Capital Markets, Equity Research, Sales & Trading, Wealth Management
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Blackstone (Investment Advisory), General Electric (Spinoff Advisory), CoreLogic (Hostile Takeover Defense)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: $210,000
Centerview Partners
Centerview Partners is an elite boutique investment bank known for being the highest-paying investment bank for junior analysts on Wall Street. The firm is known for its 3-year analyst program and has a strong focus on analyst development and retention.
- Notable Teams: General Mergers & Acquisitions, Restructuring
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Restructuring, Valuation
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Seagen (Acquisition Sale), L’Oreal (Acquisition), Biohaven (Acquisition Sale)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: $220,000
PJT Partners
PJT Partners, the former investment banking and advisory arm of Blackstone, is an elite boutique investment banking firm that competes directly with Evercore, Centerview, and other prestigious banks. The company uses a generalist analyst development approach which gives entry-level employees exposure to both mergers and acquisitions and restructuring work.
- Notable Teams: Healthcare Advisory, Entertainment Advisory, Restructuring
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory, Restructuring
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Abbvie (Acquisition), Blackstone (Acquisition Sale), Caesars Entertainment (Merger)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Perella Weinberg Partners
Perella Weinberg Partners, sometimes referred to as PWP, is an elite boutique investment banking firm with sizeable advisory transactions in both the US and Europe. The firm has advised on big-name deals with PepsiCo, PayPal, Kraft Heinz, and other large Fortune 500 corporations.
- Notable Teams: Energy Restructuring, Industrial Advisory
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory, Restructuring
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Altria (Acquisition), Estee Lauder (Acquisition), Sabre (Debt Capital Markets)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Moelis & Company
Moelis & Company is a rapidly growing elite boutique investment bank that operates in line with other prestigious players like PJT and Lazard. The firm runs a generalist analyst operation, assigning analysts both M&A and restructuring work dependent on the bank’s current deal flow.
- Notable Teams: Restructuring
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory, Restructuring, Private Funds Advisory
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Mohari Hospitality (Acquisition), World Wrestling Entertainment (Merger), Clayton Dubilier & Rice (Take-Private)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Qatalyst Partners
Qatalyst Partners is a small, but prestigious tech-oriented elite boutique investment bank based in San Francisco. The firm advises on some of the biggest transactions in Silicon Valley (Slack, Microsoft, Oracle, etc.) and consistently pays its analysts some of the highest compensation packages in the industry (likely right under Centerview).
- Notable Teams: Technology Mergers & Acquisitions
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory, Restructuring, IPOs, Hostile Takeovers
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Adobe (Acquisition), Doordash (Acquisition), Amazon (Acquisition)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: $210,000
Greenhill & Co.
Greenhill & Co is an elite boutique investment bank that has arguably seen a steady downturn relative to the deals and transactions it was able to secure over 10+ years ago. At its peak, the bank has advised on sizeable multi-billion dollar deals which include the $17 billion merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines.
- Notable Teams: General Mergers & Acquisitions
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Restructuring, Private Capital Advisory
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Hisco (Acquisition Sale), Whirlpool Corporation (Acquisition), Pixelligent Technologies (Capital Raise)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
LionTree Advisors
LionTree Advisors is an American technology and media-focused investment banking firm founded in 2012. The relatively new investment bank is regarded as one of the best media and telecommunication advisory firms with a high-profile history of working with companies like Verizon Media, Warner Media, MGM, and Amazon.
- Notable Teams: Technology Media Telecommunications (TMT) Advisory
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory, IPOs
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Amazon (Acquisition), New York Times (Acquisition), Apollo (Acquisition)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Allen & Company
Allen & Company is an elite boutique investment bank best known for being a “low-profile” bank on Wall Street with no official website or issued press releases. The firm operates heavily on relationship-sourced deals and has a strong track record in the real estate and technology media industry sectors.
- Notable Teams: Technology Media Telecommunications (TMT) Advisory
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Twitter (Acquisition), Activision Blizzard (Acquisition), Warner Media (Acquisition)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Guggenheim Securities
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Guggenheim Securities is an elite boutique investment bank well known for its competitive deals in healthcare, technology, and media.
- Notable Teams: Healthcare Advisory, Technology Media Telecommunications Advisory
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory, Restructuring, Leveraged Buyouts, Special Situations
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Pfizer (Acquisition), Apollo (Acquisition), Xylem (Acquisition)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: $190,000
Jefferies
Jefferies is one of the few full-service boutique investment banks with a multinational presence in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The firm consistently performs as a strong contender amongst the major players as the bank currently ranks in the 8th spot for the highest mergers and acquisitions fee revenue in the first quarter of 2023.
- Notable Teams: Leveraged Finance, Healthcare Advisory, Industrials Advisory
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory, Debt Restructuring, Private Capital Advisory
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: NYC Bancorp (Acquisition), Summit Health (Acquisition Sale), CSC (Credit Financing)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Houlihan Lokey
Houlihan Lokey is a multinational boutique investment bank based in Los Angeles, California. The firm operates one of the best debt restructuring teams in the world with a competitive industrials industry coverage group.
- Notable Teams: Debt Restructuring, Industrials Advisory
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory, Restructuring, Valuation
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Hershey (Acquisition), Liberty Tire (Acquisition), Kestrel Coal (Refinance)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Rothschild & Co
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Rothschild & Co is a multinational elite boutique regarded as one of the premier investment banking organizations in Europe. The firm’s American branch seems to be steadily growing and accumulating deals within the middle market space.
- Notable Teams: Restructuring, European Mergers & Acquisitions
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Financing Advisory, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Merchant Banking
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Rio Tinto (Acquisition), Tenneco (Acquisition), Aeromexico (Restructuring)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: $198,000
Piper Sandler
Piper Sandler is an American boutique investment bank based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The firm consistently dominates the middle market space of transactions under $1 billion.
- Notable Teams: Healthcare Advisory, Consumer Advisory, Financial Institutions Advisory
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory, Restructuring, Public Offerings, Investment Management, Securities Research
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: First-Citizens Bank (Acquisition), NYC Bancorp (Acquisition), Thoma Bravo (Acquisition)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Robey Warshaw
Robey Warshaw is a relatively new London-based boutique investment bank founded in 2013. The founders of Robey Warshaw include one former mergers and acquisitions co-head at Morgan Stnaley and one former investment banking co-head at UBS.
- Notable Teams: European Mergers & Acquisitions
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory, Take Over Defense
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Chelsea Football Club (Acquisition), Vodafone (Acquisition), London Stock Exchange Group (Acquisition)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Gordon Dyal & Co
Gordon Dyal, a former heavy dealmaker at Goldman Sachs, set up his elite boutique investment bank in New York under the name Gordon Dyal & Co. The young firm made headlines in participating in the $90 billion Bristol-Myers Squibb acquisition of Celgene.
- Notable Teams: Healthcare Advisory
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Restructuring, Joint Ventures, Take Over Defense
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Bristol-Myers (Acquisition), Novartis (Acquisition), Syngenta (Acquisition Sale)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Baird
Baird is a multinational middle-market boutique investment bank based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The firm consistently ranks well within the middle market transactions space and has a particularly well-regarded industrials mergers and acquisitions team.
- Notable Teams: Industrials Advisory
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Markets Advisory, Restructuring
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Lion Brothers (Acquisition), ASPEQ Heating (Acquisition), ECM Industries (Acquisition)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Seabury Capital Group
Seabury Capital Group is a boutique investment bank best known for its coverage of aviation, aerospace, maritime, and defense industry sectors. The firm is based in New York City and is known for advising on complex, capital-intensive situations within aviation and general transportation.
- Notable Teams: Aviation Restructuring, Fleet Management & Optimization
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Raising, Corporate Advisory, Structured Finance
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: MD Helicopters (Credit Facility), Malaysia Aviation Group (Acquisition), Ultra Electronics (Asset Disposition)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
FT Partners
FT Partners is a well-known fintech-oriented boutique investment bank. The boutique investment banking firm dominates fintech deal flow with the guidance and leadership of ex-Goldman Sachs fintech expert, Steve McLaughlin.
- Notable Teams: Financial Technology Mergers & Acquisitions
- Offered Services: Mergers & Acquisitions, Take Over Defense, IPOs, Valuations, Equity Research
- Notable Recent Advisory Deals: Mastercard (Acquisition), Revolut (Financing), Truebill (Acquisition)
- 1st Year Analyst Total Compensation Estimate: Undisclosed
Additional Resources
If you’re interested in applying for competitive entry-level investment banking roles, consider checking out our to learn the technical finance skills that have helped our students land jobs at Goldman Sachs, UBS, Bloomberg, and other top-tier companies.
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