25 Best Investment Banking Firms to Work For in 2025
Published: Jan 22, 2025
Today, we're excited to release our 2025 Banking 25, a ranking of the best investment banking firms to work for in North America. The ranking is based on a survey of approximately 2,800 banking professionals who were asked to rate their firms in several workplace categories, including benefits, compensation, culture, diversity, hours, training, work/life balance, and more. They were also asked to rate firms other than their own in terms of prestige.
The 10 Best Investment Banking Firms to Work For in 2025 Based on Vault’s Annual Banking Survey Are:
2. Evercore
4. PJT Partners
6. Lazard
9. Greenhill
10. Harris Williams
No. 1 Centerview Offers “Great Mentorship” and “Industry-Leading Compensation”
Centerview ranks No. 1 overall for the sixth straight year, again earning the label of “Best Investment Banking Firm to Work For.” In addition to ranking No. 1 in the Banking 25, Centerview takes the No. 1 spot in an impressive 18 Quality of Life Rankings: Benefits, Business Outlook, Client Interaction, Compensation, Culture, ESG Practices, Firm Leadership, Hiring Process, Hours, Informal Training, Internal Mobility, Promotion Policies, Quality of Work, Relationships with Managers, Satisfaction, Vacation Policies, Wellness, and Work/Life Balance. The firm also jumps two spots to take the No. 2 spot in the Prestige Rankings. In addition, Centerview ranks No 1 in five out of six Diversity Rankings, including Overall Diversity, Diversity for Women, and LGBTQ+ Diversity.
Centerview’s professionals tell us that the firm has a “fantastic culture”; is filled with “incredibly smart, caring, talented, driven, high-quality people”; and gives young professionals access to “early responsibility,” “great mentorship,” and “big, interesting deals that matter.” Centerview is also widely known to offer an “industry-leading compensation package with top-tier benefits.” And with respect to diversity hiring, “at the junior level, it’s often the case that analyst classes have more females than males,” and “military veteran hiring in the U.S. office is very strong.”
No. 2 Evercore Offers “Exceptional Deal flow” and a “Top Training Program”
Evercore again ranks No. 2 overall and No. 1 in Formal Training. This year, it also ranks No. 2 in Business Outlook, No. 2 in Hiring Process, No. 3 in Quality of Work, and No. 4 in Prestige. In addition, Evercore also ranks No. 2 in Diversity for Women, LGBTQ+ Diversity, and Overall Diversity. Evercore insiders tell us that the firm has a “positive, collaborative, teamwork-oriented culture” filled with “high-quality, well-rounded, caring, kind, extremely bright people,” and offers “many learning opportunities,” including “early responsibility” and “exceptional deal flow.” Evercore bankers are also “compensated very well.”
No. 3 Moelis Offers “Significant Early Responsibility on Exciting, Unique Deals”
Moelis holds steady this year at No. 3. overall, ranks No. 8 in Prestige, and ranks No. 2 in an impressive nine workplace categories: Firm Leadership, Hours, Internal Mobility, Promotion Policies, Quality of Work, Relationships with Managers, Satisfaction, Wellness, and Work/Life Balance. Moelis insiders say the best aspects of their roles are “working alongside high-quality, incredibly talented, motivated people in a great, team-oriented, collaborative culture” and the “strong commitment to developing juniors into senior bankers”—junior bankers get “significant early responsibility on exciting, unique deals and access to senior leadership.”
Lazard, Harris Williams, and Goldman Sachs Also Earn No. 1s
In other wins in our Quality of Life Rankings, New York-based Lazard holds onto its No. 1 ranking in International Opportunities. The firm’s bankers tell us that “what’s great about Lazard is you’re able to advance your career in any manner that you so choose. Individuals can move to international and domestic offices, switch groups, or switch the area of the firm they work in.” Meanwhile, Richmond, Va.-based Harris Williams rose one spot to take the No. 1 ranking in Diversity for Military Veterans. The firm’s professionals tell us that Harris Williams is “among the best firms in terms of inclusivity” and “has a particularly strong veteran pipeline.” And in our Prestige Rankings, Goldman Sachs held onto its No. 1 ranking, edging out No. 2 Centerview.
Bankers Are Unhappy with Return-to-Office Policies, Prefer Hybrid Models, and Don’t Mind Working Long Hours if Certain Benefits Are Offered
This year, numerous banking professionals who took our survey tell us that they’re dissatisfied with their firms’ return-to-office policies, while numerous others praise their firms for offering hybrid work models where they can work remotely on certain days each week and during certain designated remote weeks throughout the year. One disgruntled banker tells us: “While we talk about work/life balance, many leaders don’t follow that narrative. We have a culture of ‘in the office,’ which is a problem and doesn’t support quality of life balances, as it requires employees to commute long hours, pay pricey parking fees, and spend less time with their families.”
Meanwhile, a banker at another firm, which is among the best in the industry when it comes to work/life balance, has this to say: “Our hybrid work policy is fantastic—it’s in touch with today’s world, it increases quality of life, and it’s a real competitive advantage for recruiting and retaining talent. Most groups also honor the remote month and protected weekends policies.”
In addition, perhaps surprisingly, bankers tell us that they don’t mind putting in 80-hour workweeks—provided that they’re paid a fair salary and bonus, and are able to work on live deals, work remotely, unplug during vacation, and get breaks after extremely busy periods of work. Satisfied bankers tell us “you work hard but are rewarded with interesting work in the most complicated situations”; “you work a lot of hours but are allowed to work from home in the evenings and Fridays”; and “the hours can be long, the deadlines tight, and schedules get blown up—but your team always has your back and once the crisis is past, staffing and senior leadership work diligently to make sure you get a break to recover.”
Our new banking company profiles include many more direct quotes from banking professionals—about hours, work/life balance, overall satisfaction, compensation, benefits, training, wellness, diversity, business outlook, and more.
View the entire 2025 Vault Banking Rankings.