Public firm research and practice themes
Use these pages to organize public background research and general study themes. They are not firm interview guides, rankings, or confidential question banks.
Firm names are used only to identify publicly available information. IB Atlas is independent and unaffiliated with every firm listed. Practice prompts are general educational material, not actual, confidential, or leaked interview questions.
Bulge bracket (8)
Global banks with integrated advisory, capital markets, and trading businesses spanning most industries and deal sizes. Analysts typically join a specific coverage or product group within a much larger organization.
Independent advisory (11)
Firms that focus on mergers and acquisitions and other strategic advisory work, without a significant trading or balance-sheet lending business. Also called pure advisory or boutique firms.
- EvercoreNew YorkM&ADCF
- LazardNew YorkM&ADCF
- Centerview PartnersNew YorkM&ADCF
- Moelis & CompanyNew YorkM&ADCF
- PJT PartnersNew YorkRestructuring & DistressedM&A
- Perella Weinberg PartnersNew YorkM&ADCF
- Guggenheim SecuritiesNew YorkM&ADCF
- Rothschild & CoParisM&ARestructuring & Distressed
- Qatalyst PartnersSan FranciscoM&ADCF
- Greenhill & CoNew YorkM&ADCF
- Houlihan LokeyLos AngelesRestructuring & DistressedM&A
Full service (4)
Banks that combine advisory work with capital markets and trading, organized around a defined set of industries and products rather than the broadest possible platform.
Middle market (7)
Firms that concentrate on advising businesses in the lower and middle segments of the deal-size spectrum, generally from the tens of millions up to a few hundred million dollars in transaction value.
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General educational practice prompts with study explanations for offline review. They are not firm-provided questions.