The biggest impact upon this year’s rankings came from Moelis & Company.  Although not in the Top 10, the boutique investment bank made the most dramatic leap in the rankings, jumping 29 spots to No. 13 on the list.  Its business performance in the past year led some industry insiders to call Moelis “the new Goldman Sachs.”

But Goldman Sachs is not ready to abdicate its throne.  According to survey respondents, top-ranked Goldman Sachs is “still the best,” but they warn that although the firm is “the gold standard of investment banking,” “it’s a dented gold standard.”  The banking giant has been ranked in the top spot since 1999 when Vault first ranked investment banks.

Blackstone, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan Remain Strong – Boutique Banks Ready to Pounce

In addition to Goldman Sachs, The Blackstone Group and Morgan Stanley held their spots in the top three, while J.P. Morgan Investment Bank moved up one spot to No. 4.  However, the trends in Vault’s rankings suggest that smaller boutique banks appear poised to challenge the bulge-bracket financial institutions for the top spot next year.

In comparison to last year’s rankings, Evercore Partners, which respondents call the “premier advisory firm,” leaped 17 places to No. 8, and Greenhill & Co., Inc., considered a “small, but important M&A shop,” rose seven spots to No. 6.  Waiting in the wings and looking to crack next year’s Top 10, Perella Weinberg Partners, viewed by its peers as a “future leader,” jumped 11 places to No. 12.  At the same time, in its first year in the rankings, Centerview Partners ranked No. 34 in prestige.  

“With the prospect of compensation restrictions and increased government regulation on the horizon—which will mainly affect the larger banks—look for even more boutiques to crack the top 10 next year,” Loosvelt adds. 

One casualty of the recent economic decline was Citi Consumer Banking, which dropped 22 spots in the rankings to No. 41.  Survey responders noted that the bank was “in trouble” and has an “uncertain future.”  Despite the ranking decline, there is hope for Citi in the near future—insiders call the bank a “stalwart U.S. brand” filled with “good, smart people.”

Nomura Holdings, Inc. provided bulge-bracket banks with some good news.  Well known in Asia, Nomura went from not even cracking last year’s Top 50, to coming in at No. 26 this year with inside buzz stating that the bank is “a bigger deal post-Lehman.”

Centerview Partners, Goldman Sachs Top Quality of Life Rankings

In addition to the top prestige rankings, Vault released quality of life rankings for firms, in categories such as compensation, training, hours, offices and diversity—straight from employees who work there.  Centerview Partners was ranked the best bank to work for, followed by Goldman Sachs, Houlihan Lokey, J.P. Morgan Investment Bank and Robert W. Baird & Co.  In terms of diversity, Goldman Sachs was voted No. 1, with Houlihan Lokey, Centerview Partners, J.P. Morgan Investment Bank and Citi Consumer Banking rounding out the Top 5. 

The rankings were released at a special networking event, “The Future of Banking: Salaries, Sectors and Uncle Sam,” where Vault brought together a panel of industry leaders, analysts and government officials, including Evercore’s Jonathan Knee and BusinessWeek’s Roben Farzad, to tackle the major issues facing the banking industry—and anyone pursuing a banking career.  The panel discussion was moderated by CNBC’s senior analyst Ron Insana and supported many of the trends found in Vault’s banking employer rankings.  

The Top 50 Bank Employers were derived from Vault’s Annual Banking Survey, conducted in January, February and March of this year.  Banking professionals were asked to rate banking firms on a scale of 1 to 10 based on prestige (they were unable to rate their own firms, and asked to only rate firms with which they were familiar).

The end results of the survey are included in the book, the Vault Guide to the Top 50 Banking Employers, also containing profiles that give readers an insider’s perspective of each firm, revealing information on practice areas, revenue, uppers and downers of working for the firm, employment contacts and “The Buzz”—overall perception of each firm.  The Vault Guide to the Top 50 Banking Employers is available by ordering through Vault.com.

To access Vault’s top banking rankings, please CLICK HERE. All categories of quality of life and diversity rankings are available to Vault Gold subscribers.

About Vault 

Vault.com is the Web’s most comprehensive resource for career management and job search information, including insider intelligence on salaries, hiring practices and company cultures. Vault features thousands of profiles on occupations, industries, companies and universities, as well as career-related articles, videos, blogs and research tools.  The company publishes more than 120 print and online titles, from the best-selling Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms to the Vault Guide to Schmoozing. Vault’s clients include Fortune 1000 advertisers and recruiters, the country’s top universities and graduate schools.

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CONTACT:

Jon Minners

jminners@vault.com

646-792-6205

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