What Is Bulge Bracket? (2024)

FAQs

What do bulge brackets do? ›

Bulge bracket banks are multinational, brand-name banks that regularly handle billion-dollar transactions and employ thousands of people in financial centers around the world. Then there are boutique banks—smaller, younger banks that specialize in certain areas of investment banking and handle smaller deals.

The term "Bulge Bracket" comes from the way investment banks are listed on the "tombstone", or public notification of a financial transaction;, where the largest advisors on investment banking operations (mergers, acquisitions, IPOs, or debt issuance) are listed first.

As a catchall term for this class of large global investment bank, "bulge bracket" commonly refers to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and UBS.

There are two main categories of investment banks: elite boutiques and bulge brackets. Elite boutiques are smaller organizations that focus solely on investment banking, while bulge brackets are large firms that provide many different corporate finance solutions.

It's harder to win offers at the BB banks, and you need more upfront preparation and an early start in university (or a top-tier MBA). In some regions, the bulge brackets are not the best because domestic banks are stronger.

UBS is one of the world's largest and well known financial institutions. It has a formidable investment banking business and a leading wealth management unit.

The main types of investment banks include regional and elite boutiques, middle-market banks, and bulge bracket banks. Boutique firms typically have a smaller client base, while bulge bracket banks handle huge corporate clients, and middle-market banks are between the two.

The big US investment banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America) were historically known as the "bulge bracket." They typically deal with big clients and big M&A deals worth $500m+. For this, their bankers are paid handsomely.

Based on these screens, I would say the global bulge brackets are currently: Goldman Sachs. Morgan Stanley. J.P. Morgan.

Is Wells Fargo a bulge? ›

Multiple banks rank differently in various financial metrics, but some maintain top positions. As such, there is no official list of bulge bracket investment banks, but some prominent names include JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, UBS, etc. Is Wells Fargo a bulge bracket? No.

In the United States, Tier 1 banks include: Bank of America.

At bulge bracket investment banks, the recruiters are unlikely to read a cover letter for just-out-of-school positions; they may only see your resume. But some insist on cover letters for graduate positions for a sort of first assessment. Generally, a cover letter is more likely to be read in smaller or local banks.

“Companies in the middle market are in their growth phase and much more entrepreneurial, so you learn much more about how businesses grow, whereas companies in the bulge bracket are much more mature.” As for exit opportunities, they're much the same as for a bulge bracket bank.

Most bulge bracket investment banks offer a suite of services which are anchored around corporate banking or lending, therefore the potential for conflicts of interest arises if hired as restructuring advisors.

From a size perspective, bulge brackets and elite boutiques work on the largest transactions, while middle market banks and “regional” boutiques work on smaller deals and may be more geographically focused.