Top Boutique Investment Banks in 2024

Are you looking for the top boutique investment banks in New York? You have landed at the right place. In this blog, we will discuss the best boutique banks in 2024 and also see what type of services they provide. 

Investment banking is a hot topic among the younger generation. Most finance graduates aspire to work in top investment banks like Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan after leaving college. 

However, did you know that there are different types of investment banks in the market? Investment banks can be typically categorized into three categories- Boutique Investment Banks, Middle Market Investment Banks, and Bulge Bracket Investment Banks. 

However, today, we will talk about boutique investment banks. It is typically different from other types of investment banks. They primarily work on small deals with middle-market companies whose revenue ranges from $100 million to $1 billion. Most boutique banks offer services like corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, capital financing, restructuring, and reorganizations. 

Nowadays, many corporate companies are hiring boutique investment banks to help with finances and ease up their financial troubles. Boutique IBs provide skilled individuals, minimal chances of conflict, and the ability to work independently while receiving the support of an investment bank. 

There are also elite boutique banks that should not be confused with regular boutique banks. Elite boutique IBs are highly renowned boutique banks that are quite prestigious and generally pay their analysts a lot more than the average compensation found at bulge bracket banks. They typically advise on larger deals (more than $1 billion). 

What is a Boutique Investment Bank?

These are the banks that specialize in specific business industries, operate in specific geographical locations, cover specific business industries, provide financial advice, and also provide investment banking services. It is also called a non-full-service bank, a regional investment bank, or a middle-market investment bank.

Boutique investment banks are categorized as follows:

• Relating to service: Mergers and Acquisitions, Reconstructing and Restructuring, Capital Raising, Underwriting debts and equity securities, etc
• Relating to industries: Healthcare, Retail, Energy, Finance, Media, Technology, Industries, etc
• Relating to Geographies: US Mideast, US East Coast, US West Coast, South America, Europe, etc

These banks are smaller than the bigger names like J.P. Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, etc. They indulge in smaller transactions under $1 billion. Elite Boutique Investment Banks are exclusive boutique banks, managing to advise on larger transactions that are over $1 billion, and they pay their analysts higher amounts than the average compensation packages. As with their functionalities, they are above the stars with regard to the prestigious acts and principles aligned with them.

Elite Boutique Banks are quite different from regional boutique banks. They often hold high prestige and are renowned in the market. Elite boutique investment banks generally pay a higher salary than the average compensation at bulge-bracket banks. 

Best Boutique Investment Banks in 2024

Here is the list of best boutique investment banks in 2024:

Lazard

Lazard formerly known as Lazard Freres & Co. is a boutique investment bank in New York that specializes in mergers and acquisition deals along with financial services and investment banking mergers. They are the world's largest independent investment bank, with offices in London, New York City, and Paris. Lazard operates in more than 41 cities across 26 countries in Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, Australia, Central, and South America. Their services include Mergers and Acquisitions, Financial advice, Capital Raising and Corporate finance, Restructuring and Capital structure, etc.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Capital Markets, Corporate Advisory, Restructuring.
Specialization	Restructuring, Healthcare Advisory, Consumer & Retail Advisory.
Notable Deals	First Republic Bank (Financial Advisory), Bridgepointe Technologies (Acquisitions).

Evercore

Evercore, which was early known as Evercore Partners, is a top boutique investment bank that has made its name in the market and ranked 2nd in the list of the best boutique investment banks in 2022. Since the business organization was founded in 1995, it has advised above 4.7 trillion in merger, acquisition, and restructuring transactions. The company is familiar with prestigious and elite investment banking advisory firms. They deal with mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, public offerings, restructurings, and several other strategic transactions, and they also provide institutional investors with fundamental equity research, sales, and trading execution. Evercore's Management is Wealth Management, Private Equity, and Asset Management investing.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Restructuring, Capital Markets, Equity Research, Sales and Trading, Wealth Management.
Specialization	Restructuring.
Notable Deals	Blackstone (Investment Advisory), General Electric (Spinoff Advisory), CoreLogic (Hostile Takeover Defense),

Centerview Partners

Centerview Partners is an elite boutique investment bank that is renowned as one of the highest-paying investment banks on Wall Street. It is an independent banking firm and mainly caters to clients with annual revenue of over $1 billion. They have 60 partners and 400 professionals from a wide range of geographies, industries, etc. 

Centerview has advised many of the largest and most complex corporate transactions, including General Electric's sale of $200 billion of financial assets, the Sprint Corporation's Independent Transaction Committee proposed $146 billion merger of Sprint and T-Mobile, Qualcomm defense of Broadcom Corporation $130 billion hostile takeover. Pfizer announced a joint venture with GlaxoSmithKline, its $14 billion acquisition of Medivation, and its $5.2 billion acquisition of Anacor.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Restructuring, Valuation.
Specialization	Restructuring, General Mergers and Acquisitions.
Notable Deals	Seagen (Acquisition Sale), L’Oreal (Acquisition), BioHaven (Acquisition Sale).

PJT Partners

PJT Partners is a financial advisory firm that is primarily focused on investment banking as a part of The Blackstone Group's spin-off of its financial and strategic advisory services businesses. It is an elite boutique investment bank that competes directly with other prestigious banks like Centerview and Evercore. 

The firm operates with Strategic Advisory, Capital Marketing, Shareholder Advisory, Restructuring, and Capital Raising and has advised more than $600 billion in mergers and acquisitions transactions in its history, including AbbVie's $600 billion acquisition of Allergan, T-Mobile's $59 billion merger with Sprint, and Mylan's $50 billion combination with Upjphn, a division of Pfizer.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Restructuring, Capital Market Advisory.
Specialization	Healthcare Advisory, Entertainment Advisory, and Restructuring.
Notable Deals	Abbvie (Acquisition), Blackstone (Acquisition Sale), Caesars Entertainment (Merger).

Perella Weinberg Partners

Perella Weinberg Partners L.P. is a boutique investment bank in New York. It is an American global financial services firm that is focused on investment banking advisory services. It is headquartered in New York City, with offices located in London, Paris, Houston, Munich, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, and Calgary. To fund the seed investment initiatives and the firm's operations, PWP partners have raised over $1.1 billion from a group of investors. The company has advised Northrop Grumman on the sale of its Federal IT. And Mission Support Services business to Veritas Capital for $3.4 billion, Kraft Heinz on the sale of its Planters brand to Hormel Foods for $3.35 billion, MKS Instruments on its $5.1 billion acquisition of Atotech and many others.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Restructuring, Capital Market Advisory.
Specialization	Energy Restructuring, Industrial Advisory.
Notable Deals	Altria (Acquisition), Estee Lauder (Acquisition), Sabre (Debt Capital Markets).

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Moelis & Company

Moelis & Company is an elite boutique investment bank that is giving tough competition to other banks like Lazard and PJT. It is a rapidly growing investment bank and provides financial advisory services to governments, corporations, and financial sponsors. The firm is concerned with mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and restructurings, and several other corporate finances. The firm has advised more than $4 trillion in transactions since it was founded in 2017. It is headquartered in New York City and has over 20 offices in South and North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. 

The firm has 1000+ employees, including 765 investment bankers. And has advised the Government of Dubai on the $24.9 billion restructuring of its investment holding company, Dubai World, SABMiller on the $11.7 billion acquisition of GE Capital Australia and New Zealand Consumer Finance, Centro Properties on the $4.33 billion restructuring and $5.0 billion merger of Australian interests, etc.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Restructuring, Capital Market Advisory, Private Funds Advisory.
Specialization	Restructuring.
Notable Deals	Mohari Hospitality (Acquisition), World Wrestling Entertainment (Merger), Clayton Dubilier and Rice (Take-Private)

Qatalyst Partners

Qatalyst Partners is a prestigious but rather small elite boutique investment bank that is based in San Francisco. It primarily focuses on technology and specializes in mergers and acquisitions. The firm is based in San Francisco with an additional office in London. The firm's deals include eBay, LinkedIn, LifeSize, Google, GoDaddy.com, Taleo, Motorola, and several others. It has advised LinkedIn's sale to Microsoft for $26.2 billion, Analogue Devices acquisition of Linear Technology for $15 billion, KLA Tencor's sale to Lam Research for $11.5 billion, and many more.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Restructuring, Capital Market Advisory, IPOs, and Hostile Takeovers.
Specialization	Technology Mergers and Acquisitions.
Notable Deals	Adobe (Acquisition), Doordash (Acquisition), Amazon (Acquisition).

Greenhill & Co.

Founded in 1996, Greenhill & Co., Inc. is also an elite boutique investment bank that has gradually witnessed a steady decline over the years. In the past, boutique investment banks used to advise on sizable billion-dollar deals but have faced a significant downward slump. The firm provides its services in the form of advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, financing, and capital raising to institutions, governments, partnerships, and corporations. The firm is located in New York City, and it is focused on complex financial transactions across the globe. It has advised International Flavors & Fragrances on its merger with DuPont's Nutrition & Biosciences (N&B) business combining the company at $45.4 billion on an enterprise value basis, on the acquisition of Forest Laboratories by Actavis for $25 billion, on the $10 billion merger between Safewat and Albertsons, etc. In May 2023, a Japanese group, Mizuho, agreed to acquire Greenhill for $550 million.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Restructuring, Private Capital Advisory.
Specialization	General Mergers and Acquisitions.
Notable Deals	Hisco (Acquisition Sale), Whirlpool Corporation (Acquisition Sale), Pixelligent Technologies (Capital Raise)

LionTree LLC

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LionTree LLC is one of the top boutique investment banks in the USA and mainly focuses on industries related to technology, media, and telecommunication. Though the firm is based in the United States, it has a significant presence in Europe. The firm has a media company called Kindred Media. The firm deals in both investment banking and merchant banking and provides services that include mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings, and initial public offerings. It has advised with the merger of Snap Inc.'s acquisition of Starz, Take-Two Interactive's acquisition of Zynga, and the New York Times acquisition of The Athletic.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Capital Market Advisory, IPOs.
Specialization	Technology Media Telecommunications Advisory (TMT)
Notable Deals	Amazon (Acquisition), New York Times (Acquisition), Apollo (Acquisition).

Allen & Company, LLC

Allen & Company is an America-based elite boutique investment bank that is known for keeping a low profile. The investment banking firm doesn’t even have an official website and issues no press releases. It is a boutique advisory firm that specializes in media, communications, technology, entertainment sectors, and real estate. Herbert Allen, the founder's grand nephew, has been in charge of the company since 2002. The company bought a stake in Columbia Pictures, and at the time of selling the business to Coca-Cola, it was netted with a profit. Then, Herbert Allen, Jr., made his presence on Coca-Cola's board of directors.

The high-profile attendees for the business organization are Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, Warren Buffet, Barry Diller, Michael Eisner, Robert Johnson, Richard Parsons, and Donald Keough.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions and Capital Market Advisory.
Specialization	Technology Media Telecommunications Advisory (TMT)
Notable Deals	Twitter (Acquisition), Activision Blizzard (Acquisition), Warner Media (Acquisition).

Guggenheim Partners

Guggenheim Partners is a boutique investment bank that is well known for its large deals in technology, healthcare, and media industries. It primarily offers services like global advisory and investment financial services firms engaging in investment banking, asset management, capital market services, and insurance services. 

The company has 2,400 employees, is diversified into financial services, and is headquartered in New York City and Chicago. The firm has more than $300 billion of assets under management. Guggenheim Securities was named a financial adviser to Verizon in connection with its $13 billion acquisition of Vodafone's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless and many more.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Restructuring, Capital Market Advisory, Leveraged Buyouts, Special Situations.
Specialization	Healthcare Advisory, Technology Media Telecommunications Advisory.
Notable Deals	Pfizer (Acquisition), Apollo (Acquisition), Xylem (Acquisition).

Jefferies Group LLC

Jefferies Group LLC is one of the few full-service boutique investment banks that has a multinational presence in countries like America, Asia, and Europe. It is headquartered in New York City and has over 30 offices worldwide, including Boston, Charlotte, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago, which are the leading centres around the world.

The firm focuses on capital markets and financial advisory services, institutional brokerage, securities research, and asset management. This also includes mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, Gaming and Leisure, Healthcare, Industrials, Maritime, Public finance, Real Estate and Lodging, technology, and telecommunications.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Debt Restructuring, Capital Market Advisory, Private Capital Advisory.
Specialization	Leveraged Finance, Healthcare Advisory, Industrial Advisory
Notable Deals	NYC Bancorp (Acquisition), Summit Health (Acquisition Sale), CSC (Credit Financing).

Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey is a boutique investment bank based in Log Angeles. Founded in 1972, it is headquartered at Constellation Place in Century City California. The investment banking firm has a vast multinational presence and boasts one of the best debt restructuring teams in the world, covering many competitive industries. The company advises large public and closely held companies, as well as institutions and governments. The primary services aligned with the firm include mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, restructuring and distressed M&A, fairness opinions, and financial and valuation advisory. It employs more than 2,600 employees across the globe. The firm is focused on industries like business services, consumer, food and retail, energy, financial services, FinTech, Healthcare, Industrials, Real Estate, Lodging, Leisure, and Technology.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Restructuring, Capital Market Advisory, Valuation
Specialization	Debt Restructuring, and Industrial Advisory
Notable Deals	Hershey (Acquisition), Liberty Tire (Acquisition), Kestrel Tire (Refinance)

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Rothschild & Co

Rothschild & Co is a multinational private elite boutique investment bank headquartered in London. While the main branch is situated in London, its American branch is still growing rapidly and is catering to corporations in the middle market space. It is controlled by the British and French branches of the Rothschild family. The firm covers the areas of investment banking, restructuring, private equity, asset management, and private banking. It also serves as a lender to governments and major corporations. The firm has more than 3,500 employees, and the company was a part of the biggest bank in the world, which dominated the international bond market.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Financing Advisory, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Merchant Banking.
Specialization	Restructuring and European Mergers and Acquisitions.
Notable Deals	Reo Tinto (Acquisition), Tenneco (Acquisition), Aeromexico (Restructuring)

Piper Sandler Companies

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Piper Sandler Companies is an American multinational boutique investment bank that dominates the middle market space of transactions (under $1 billion). It primarily focuses on mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, public offerings, public finance, institutional brokerage, investment management, and securities research. 

The firm was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Minnesota. Piper Sandler has more than 60 offices across five countries. The company has more than 1,500 employees and provides investment management and advisory services to institutional clients in the areas of equity, fixed income, private equity funds, and merchant banking.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Restructuring, Capital Market Advisory, Public Offerings, Investment Management, Securities Research.
Specialization	Healthcare Advisory, Consumer Advisory, and Financial Institutions Advisory.
Notable Deals	First Citizens Bank (Acquisition), NYC Bancorp (Acquisition), Thoma Bravo (Acquisition).

Robey Warshaw LLP

Robey Warshaw LLP is a relatively new boutique investment bank based in London. The firm was founded in 2013 and deals in mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley. The company has fewer than 20 employees and has helped AstraZeneca successfully fend off a politically charged merger by Pfizer, advised a consortium led by former Guggenheim Partners on its bid for Chelsea F.C., advised HSBC on their rescue of Silicon Valley Bank's UK arm, and also advised John Lewis Partnership on a potential controversial stake sale.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Capital Market Advisory, and Takeover Defense
Specialization	European Mergers and Acquisitions
Notable Deals	Chelsea Football Club (Acquisition), Vodafone (Acquisition), London Stock Exchange Group (Acquisition)

Baird (Robert W. Baird & Co)

Robert W. Baird & Co is a middle market boutique investment bank based in Milwaukee. It is a multinational independent investment firm and financial services company that has a good ranking within the middle market transactions space and has one of the best industrial mergers and acquisitions teams. The firm deals with financial services, providing investment banking, capital markets, private equity, wealth management, and asset management services to individuals, corporations, institutional investors, and municipalities. 

Baird Capital and its affiliates have raised and managed about $3.8 billion in capital and invested in more than 325 portfolio companies since the group's inception in the late 1980s, and the company's income sales and trading team includes more than 135 sales, trading, and analytics professionals serving from offices across the U.S. Baird also continues to broaden their capabilities in certain areas of the fixed income market. The firm has achieved the best-ever year for revenue, and its team traded an average of $23.7 billion per month, an increase of 21% over 2019.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Restructuring, Capital Market Advisory
Specialization	Industrial Advisory
Notable Deals	Lion Brothers (Acquisition), ASPEQ Heating (Acquisition), ECM Industries (Acquisition)

Seabury Capital Group

Founded in 1995, Seabury Capital Group is a boutique investment bank in New York that is renowned for its coverage of aviation, defence, maritime, and aerospace industry sectors. The firm has expanded its portfolio by investing in early-stage startup companies within financial technology and structured investment products, and the company owns and operates FINRA, NFA, and FCA-regulated investment banking services firms in the U.S. and U.K. 

The company operates in New York City, Amsterdam, Berlin, Chicago, Cordoba, Dallas, Delray Beach, Florida, Dublin, Durban, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Houston, Jersey City, London, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Minneapolis, Mumbai, Nairobi, Seoul, Shannon, Singapore, Summit, New Jersey, Toronto, and Tokyo. It has advised numerous companies and is still counting on it.

Services Offered	Mergers and Acquisitions, Capital Raising, Corporate Advisory, and Structured Finance.
Specialization	Aviation Restructuring, Fleet Management and Optimization.
Notable Deals	MD Helicopter (Credit Facility), Malaysia Aviation Group (Acquisition), Ultra Electronics (Asset Disposition).

These are the companies that play a significant role in multiple streams supporting business organizations. Check out our website to learn more about the latest updates.

Final Words

The top boutique investment banks now available on the market are thoroughly examined in this blog. There have been a lot of boutique IBs in recent years as a result of the recent economic crisis. Several executives from big banks have also ventured out by starting their own boutique banks since they are uncertain about their job security.

Statistics show that boutique banks held a substantial growth in their share of the U.S. market for mergers and acquisitions from 13% in 2008 to 40% in 2018. These figures indicate that the number of boutique banks in the United States of America is expected to increase in the next few years, and that additional boutique banks might open up. 

If you are also looking for the best boutique banks for your investment, consider this list of the top boutique banks in 2024 to help you make an informed choice. 

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