What are tier 1 investment banks?

“Tier 1” is not an official label, but most recruiters use it for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan, and many extend it to the top elite boutiques such as Centerview and Evercore. “Tier 2” usually means the rest of the bulge bracket: Bank of America, Citi, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and UBS. Group strength matters more than either label, since a top group at a Tier 2 bank often places analysts better than a weak group at a Tier 1.

What are the bulge bracket investment banks?

The bulge brackets are the global full-service franchises: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Citi, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, UBS. They run the largest analyst classes — J.P. Morgan alone shows 9,048 people holding investment banking analyst titles from the classes of roughly 2015 onward — and the most structured on-cycle recruiting.

What is the difference between a bulge bracket and an elite boutique?

Bulge brackets are full-service: they lend, underwrite, trade, and advise, across every product and region. Elite boutiques advise only, so they take no balance-sheet risk and run far smaller analyst classes. The practical difference for recruiting is scale and odds: a bulge bracket may hire ten times as many analysts, while a boutique gives each analyst more deal exposure and typically pays at or above the bulge bracket.

Is Jefferies a bulge bracket bank?

Not by the usual definition, since it lacks the balance sheet and global product range of the bulge brackets. We list it as an in-between-a-bank, though its deal flow and analyst pay now rival the bulge brackets and many people argue it belongs a tier up.

Which investment bank hires the most analysts?

Of the 23 banks we measure, J.P. Morgan has the largest analyst population at 9,048 from the classes of roughly 2015 onward, and its largest single feeder school is Columbia University. Across all 23 banks we count 72,015 analysts.

Do I need to go to a target school to get into these banks?

It helps, but no school has a monopoly: no single school supplies more than about 7% of any one bank’s analysts. Each bank page here ranks the schools it actually hires from, so you can see how concentrated a given bank’s pipeline really is before deciding how hard to network into it.

Bank tiers33 banks

Top Investment Banks by Tier

33 investment banks grouped the way recruiting actually treats them, from the bulge brackets and elite boutiques down to the middle market and industry specialists. For 23 of them we also counted how many analysts each one employs and which schools they come from.

By Ben Chon, former J.P. Morgan investment banking analystUpdated 2026-10-16

Banks in the tier list: 335 tiers
Banks measured: 23each with a feeder-school page
Analysts counted: 72,015classes of ~2015+
Largest program: J.P. Morgan9,048 analysts
Its top feeder: Columbia Universitylargest single school

72,015 people hold investment banking analyst titles at the 23 measured banks from the graduating classes of roughly 2015 onward, and J.P. Morgan runs the biggest program at 9,048. Every bank below with a measured analyst population links to its own page ranking the schools it hires from.

The tiers at a glance

5 tiers · 33 banks

What sets each tier apart, with the names you will hear most. Each tier opens its full list below.

Tier	What sets it apart	Best-known banks
Bulge Bracket8 banks	Global full-service banks with the largest analyst classes	Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America
Elite Boutiques8 banks	Advisory-only firms winning bulge-bracket-sized mandates	Centerview, Evercore, Lazard, Moelis
In-Between-a-Banks6 banks	Balance-sheet banks whose best groups compete with the bulge brackets	Jefferies, Wells Fargo, RBC, HSBC
Middle Market8 banks	Smaller deals and leaner teams, so responsibility comes early	Houlihan Lokey, William Blair, Baird, Piper Sandler
Industry & Regional Boutiques3 banks	Specialists that lead a single sector or region	Rothschild & Co, LionTree, Leerink Partners

Banks by analyst headcount

23 banks · classes of ~2015+

The 23 banks we measure, largest program first, with the single school each one hires from most. Every row opens that bank’s full feeder-school ranking.

Bulge Bracket

8 banks

The global full-service franchises. They have the largest analyst classes and the most structured recruiting — on-cycle timelines, school teams, and formal diversity programs — so staying on top of the process matters most.

Elite Boutiques

8 banks

Advisory-only firms competing with the bulge brackets on M&A and restructuring, usually at higher analyst pay. Tiny classes mean every seat is networked for — expect deeper technicals and less structured processes.

In-Between-a-Banks

6 banks

Balance-sheet banks whose top groups compete at the bulge-bracket level while the broader platform recruits like middle market. Group selection matters more here than anywhere else — target the flagship teams.

Middle Market

8 banks

Deals are smaller and teams are leaner, so analysts get responsibility earlier. Exits to megafund PE are rarer, but reps-per-analyst are often better — and for lateral or off-cycle recruiting these firms are the most accessible on this page.

Industry & Regional Boutiques

3 banks

Firms built around one sector or one region. Outside finance the names mean less, but inside their industries they are often the first call, and Allen & Co. plays the same role in media as LionTree. If you already know the sector you want, one of these can be worth more than a bigger logo.

How the tiers compare

There is no perfect type of bank. The bulge brackets give you structured training and a name every recruiter recognizes. The cost is size: teams are big and the hierarchy runs deep.

Elite boutiques are close to the opposite. Teams are small enough that analysts work directly with senior bankers, and several pay above the bulge brackets. The tradeoff is a narrower platform with no balance sheet, so financing work happens elsewhere.

In-between-a-banks and middle-market firms sit between the two. They lack the scale of J.P. Morgan or Goldman Sachs, but many have a group that leads its industry, and a great healthcare team at a smaller bank can be a far better start than a weak group at a bigger name. Industry boutiques make that trade more sharply: if you already know the sector you want, the firm that dominates it may be the best seat available.

So pick the group before the logo. Look at the deals it works on and where its analysts go next, and ask current analysts what the culture is actually like. Ben goes deeper on that choice in Top Investment Banks: Groups, Rankings and Career Insights.

Top investment banks FAQ

6 questions

What are tier 1 investment banks?
“Tier 1” is not an official label, but most recruiters use it for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan, and many extend it to the top elite boutiques such as Centerview and Evercore. “Tier 2” usually means the rest of the bulge bracket: Bank of America, Citi, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and UBS. Group strength matters more than either label, since a top group at a Tier 2 bank often places analysts better than a weak group at a Tier 1.
What are the bulge bracket investment banks?
The bulge brackets are the global full-service franchises: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, Citi, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, UBS. They run the largest analyst classes — J.P. Morgan alone shows 9,048 people holding investment banking analyst titles from the classes of roughly 2015 onward — and the most structured on-cycle recruiting.
What is the difference between a bulge bracket and an elite boutique?
Bulge brackets are full-service: they lend, underwrite, trade, and advise, across every product and region. Elite boutiques advise only, so they take no balance-sheet risk and run far smaller analyst classes. The practical difference for recruiting is scale and odds: a bulge bracket may hire ten times as many analysts, while a boutique gives each analyst more deal exposure and typically pays at or above the bulge bracket.
Is Jefferies a bulge bracket bank?
Not by the usual definition, since it lacks the balance sheet and global product range of the bulge brackets. We list it as an in-between-a-bank, though its deal flow and analyst pay now rival the bulge brackets and many people argue it belongs a tier up.
Which investment bank hires the most analysts?
Of the 23 banks we measure, J.P. Morgan has the largest analyst population at 9,048 from the classes of roughly 2015 onward, and its largest single feeder school is Columbia University. Across all 23 banks we count 72,015 analysts.
Do I need to go to a target school to get into these banks?
It helps, but no school has a monopoly: no single school supplies more than about 7% of any one bank’s analysts. Each bank page here ranks the schools it actually hires from, so you can see how concentrated a given bank’s pipeline really is before deciding how hard to network into it.

Where these numbers come from

Analyst counts are people whose public professional profile lists that bank, an investment banking analyst title, and a graduation year of 2013 or later — the analyst classes of roughly 2015 onward — via People Data Labs, deduplicated per bank. Those conditions apply to the profile, not to a single job: the source flattens employment history, so we cannot confirm the analyst title was held at that bank rather than elsewhere in the same career. Counts are also floors, since the source covers a subset of LinkedIn and bankers who list themselves as just “Analyst” never enter them. The effect is largest for banks with big non-advisory workforces — Wells Fargo above all. Tiers reflect common US recruiting consensus as of mid-2026; group-level strength varies more than any list can capture, so when in doubt pick the stronger group over the shinier logo.

What are tier 1 investment banks?

What are the bulge bracket investment banks?

What is the difference between a bulge bracket and an elite boutique?

Is Jefferies a bulge bracket bank?

Which investment bank hires the most analysts?

Do I need to go to a target school to get into these banks?

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