The following list catalogues the largest, most profitable, and otherwise notable investment banks. This list of investment banks notes full-service banks, financial conglomerates, independent investment banks, private placement firms and notable acquired, merged, or bankrupt investment banks. As an industry it is broken up into the Bulge Bracket (upper tier), Middle Market (mid-level businesses), and boutique market (specialized businesses).[1][2]
The following are the largest full-service global investment banks; full-service investment banks usually provide both advisory and financing banking services, as well as sales, market making, and research on a broad array of financial products, including equities, credit, rates, currency, commodities, and their derivatives. The largest investment banks are noted with the following:[3][4]{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
Large financial-services conglomerates combine commercial banking, investment banking, and sometimes insurance. Such combinations were common in Europe but illegal in the United States prior to the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. The following are large investment banking firms (not listed above) that are affiliated with large financial institutions:[7]
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}The following are notable investment banking and brokerage firms that have been liquidated, acquired or merged and no longer operate under the same name.
| Firm | Fate | | Alex. Brown & Sons | ultimately part of Deutsche Bank, survives as minor business unit |
| A.G. Becker & Co. | acquired by Merrill Lynch in 1984 |
| A.G. Edwards | acquired by Wachovia in 2007 |
| The Argosy Group | acquired by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in 1995 |
| Babcock & Brown | collapsed 2009, liquidation of its assets |
| BancAmerica Robertson Stephens | acquired by NationsBank in 1998 and integrated into NationsBanc Montgomery Securities to form Banc of America Securities. |
| Barings | collapsed 1995; assets acquired by ING Bank |
| Bear Stearns | collapsed 2008; assets acquired by JPMorgan Chase |
| Bowles Hollowell Connor & Co. | acquired by First Union in 1998 |
| Blyth, Eastman Dillon & Co. | merged with Paine Webber in 1979 |
| Brown Bros. & Co. | merged with Harriman Brothers & Company to form Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. |
| BT Alex. Brown | acquired by Deutsche Bank to form Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown |
| C.E. Unterberg, Towbin | acquired by Collins Stewart in 2007 |
| Commodities Corporation | acquired by Goldman Sachs and renamed Goldman Sachs Princeton in 1997 |
| Dain Rauscher Wessels | bought by Royal Bank of Canada in 2000 |
| Dean Witter Reynolds | merged with Morgan Stanley to form Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, subsequently the Dean Witter name was eliminated |
| Dillon, Read & Company | acquired by Swiss Bank Corporation, and is ultimately part of UBS AG |
| Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette | acquired by Credit Suisse in 2001 |
| Drexel Burnham Lambert | liquidated 1990 |
| E.F. Hutton & Co. | acquired by Shearson Lehman/American Express in 1988, ultimately part of Lehman Brothers |
| First Boston Corporation | merged with Credit Suisse in 1988 to form CS First Boston, renamed "Credit Suisse First Boston" in 1996 and "Credit Suisse" in 2006 |
| First Union Securities | acquired by Wachovia in 2002 to form Wachovia Securities |
| G.H. Walker & Co. | acquired by White Weld & Co and ultimately part of Merrill Lynch |
| Giuliani Capital Advisors | the investment banking division of Giuliani Partners was sold to Macquarie Group in 2007 |
| Goodbody & Co. | merged into Merrill Lynch in 1970 |
| Gruntal & Co. | acquired by Ryan Beck & Co. in 2002 |
| H.B. Hollins & Co. | liquidated in 1913 |
| Halsey, Stuart & Co. | ultimately part of Wachovia |
| Hambrecht & Quist | acquired by Chase Manhattan Bank and ultimately part of JPMorgan Chase. H&Q name continues as investment advisor |
| Hambros Bank | acquired by Société Générale |
| Hayden, Stone & Co. | acquired Shearson Hammill & Co. in 1974 and assumed the Shearson name. Ultimately acquired by American Express in 1981 |
| Harriman Brothers & Company | merged with Brown Bros. & Co. to form Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. |
| HBOS | acquired by Lloyds TSB to form the Lloyds Banking Group in 2009 |
| Hill Samuel | acquired by Trustee Savings Bank (TSB) in 1987 later Lloyds TSB |
| Hornblower & Weeks | investment bank acquired by Loeb, Rhoades & Co. and ultimately part of Shearson/American Express |
| J.&W. Seligman & Co. | investment bank ultimately part of UBS AG; continues as asset manager |
| J.C. Bradford & Co. | acquired by PaineWebber in 2000, ultimately part of UBS AG |
| John Nuveen & Co. | IBD acquired by Piper Jaffray in 1999; company continues as asset management house under Nuveen Investments, which is controlled by private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners |
| Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | acquired by Stifel in 2012, still maintain independent branding |
| Kidder, Peabody & Co. | acquired by General Electric Corporation in 1986, subsequently resold to PaineWebber in 1994 and ultimately part of UBS AG |
| Kleinwort Benson | acquired by Dresdner Bank in 1995 |
| Kuhn, Loeb & Co. | ultimately part of Lehman Brothers |
| Llama Company | ultimately defunct after departure of Alice Walton |
| L.F. Rothschild | ultimately part of C.E. Unterberg, Towbin, with parts sold to Oppenheimer‘‘not to be confused with N.M. Rothschild, Rothschild Group; see Rothschild family |
| Lee, Higginson & Co. | liquidated 1932 |
| Lehman Brothers | bankrupt in 2008, asset sold to Barclays Capital and Nomura Holdings |
| Loeb, Rhoades & Co. | acquired by Shearson Hammill & Co. to form Shearson Loeb Rhoades in 1979 which was later acquired by American Express in 1981 to form Shearson/American Express |
| McColl Partners | acquired by Deloitte in 2013 to form Deloitte Corporate Finance |
| Mendelssohn & Co. | aryanized by the Nazis in 1938, sold in parts to Deutsche Bank |
| Merrill Lynch & Co. | acquired by Bank of America in 2008 and integrated into Banc of America Securities to form Bank of America Merrill Lynch |
| Miller Buckfire & Co. | acquired by Stifel in 2012, still maintains independent branding |
| Montgomery Securities | acquired by NationsBank in 1997 and integrated into NationsBanc Capital Markets to form NationsBanc Montgomery Securities |
| Morgan & Cie | acquired by Morgan Stanley in 1967 and incorporated as Morgan et Compagnie International in Morgan Stanley International Incorporated in 1975 |
| Morgan Grenfell | acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1990 |
| Morgan, Harjes & Co. | renamed Morgan & Cie in 1926 and acquired by Morgan Stanley in 1926 |
| Paine Webber | acquired by UBS AG |
| Park Ryan | liquidated 1979 |
| Prudential Securities | acquired by Wachovia in 2003 |
| Reynolds Securities | merged with Dean Witter & Co. to form Dean Witter Reynolds, subsequently merged with Morgan Stanley |
| Robert Fleming & Co. | acquired by JPMorgan Chase |
| Robertson Stephens | acquired by BankAmerica in 1997 and integrated into BancAmerica Securities to form BancAmerica Robertson Stephens. Sold again in 1998 to BankBoston (later FleetBoston Financial and would operate as Robertson Stephens from 1998–2002, when the firm was shuttered after the collapse of the Internet bubble |
| Roosevelt & Son | Broken up into three firms in 1934: Roosevelt & Son (liquidated), Roosevelt & Weigold (today operates as Roosevelt & Cross); and Dick & Merle Smith |
| Ryan Beck & Co. | acquired by Stifel in 2007 |
| S. G. Warburg & Co | ultimately part of UBS AG; not to be confused with M.M. Warburg or Warburg Pincus; see Warburg family |
| Salomon Brothers | acquired by Travelers Group in 1997, ultimately part of Citigroup |
| Schroders | investment bank bought by Citigroup; continues as asset manager |
| Shearson/American Express | acquired Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb in 1984 to form Shearson Lehman/American Express, later Shearson Lehman Hutton and Shearson Lehman Brothers |
| Shearson, Hammill & Co. | renamed Shearson Loeb Rhoades after the 1979 acquisition of Loeb, Rhoades & Co. in 1979. Acquired by American Express in 1981 to form Shearson/American Express |
| Shearson Lehman Hutton | renamed Shearson Lehman Brothers in 1990 and split up in 1993 with the IPO of Lehman Brothers and the sale of the retail and brokerage operations to Primerica |
| Soundview Technology Group | ultimately part of Charles Schwab |
| Swiss Bank Corporation | merged with Union Bank of Switzerland to form UBS AG |
| Union Bank of Switzerland | merged with Swiss Bank Corporation to form UBS AG |
| Wachovia Securities | acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008 and renamed Wells Fargo Securities |
| Wasserstein Perella & Co. | bought by Dresdner Bank |
| Wertheim & Co. | acquired by Schroders, and ultimately by Salomon Smith Barney |
| White Weld & Co. | bought by Merrill Lynch |
| Wood Gundy | acquired by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in 1987, operating as CIBC Wood Gundy before becoming CIBC World Markets in 1997 |
1. ^{{Cite web|url=https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/careers/companies/middle-market-investment-banks/|title=Middle Market Investment Banks List - Investment Overview|last=|first=|date=December 1, 2018|website=Corporate Finance Institute|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=December 1, 2018}}
2. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/081815/should-you-work-boutique-investment-bank.asp|title=Should You Work At A Boutique Investment Bank?|last=Seth|first=Shobhit|date=October 6, 2017|website=Investopedia|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=December 1, 2018}}
3. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/371143/leading-global-investment-banks-by-revenue/|title=Top investment banks 2017 {{!}} Statista|website=Statista|language=en|access-date=2018-03-29}}
4. ^{{Cite news|url=https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/111114/worlds-top-10-investment-banks.asp|title=The World's Top 10 Investment Banks|last=Seth|first=Shobhit|date=2014-11-11|work=Investopedia|access-date=2018-03-29|language=en-US}}
5. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasdaq.com/investing/glossary/b/bulge-bracket|title=Definition of "Bulge bracket" - NASDAQ Financial Glossary|website=NASDAQ.com|language=en-us|access-date=2018-03-29}}
6. ^{{Cite web|url=https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/careers/companies/middle-market-investment-banks/|title=Middle Market Investment Banks List - Investment Overview|last=|first=|date=December 1, 2018|website=Corporate Finance Institute|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=December 1, 2018}}
7. ^{{Cite news|url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/financial-conglomerates-the-future-of-finance/|title=Financial Conglomerates: The Future of Finance?|last=Litan|first=Richard J. Herring and Robert E.|date=|work=Brookings|access-date=2018-03-29|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|language=en-US}}
8. ^ABN AMRO Bank N.V. was acquired by a consortium of Fortis, RBS and Santander in October 2007. Since October 2009 ABN AMRO is owned by the state of the Netherlands
9. ^Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst, Special Section "Sources of Capital", page 23 "Placement Agent Ranking" Total Raised From New LPs http://img.en25.com/Web/DowJonesFIS/2010%20SOC.pdf
10. ^Excludes placement agent groups within large investment banks. [https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/st_placement_20090422.html Top Placement Agents at End of 2008]. Wall Street Journal, April 22, 2009
{{Corporate finance and investment banking}}