50 Best Investment Banks to Work For

50 Best Investment Banks to Work For

Today, we release our annual Vault Banking 50, a ranking of the best investment banking firms to work for in North America.

This year, the rankings were based on a survey of more than 3,000 investment banking professionals at all levels, from analysts and associates to managing directors and partners. Our survey asked professionals to rate their peer firms in terms of prestige, as well as their own firms in numerous quality of life categories, including culture, compensation, overall satisfaction, training, work/life balance, hours, and diversity.


To calculate the Vault Banking 50, we used a weighted formula that combines a firm's prestige score and various quality of life ratings, creating an overall "best to work for" ranking. We also compiled rankings in Prestige, Quality of Life, and Diversity.

Noteworthy this year, along with a new No. 1 firm, was the continued rise of the investment banking boutiques. Several boutiques (the relatively smaller banks on Wall Street) had excellent years in our rankings, rising many places in numerous categories. This underscored the smaller firms' continued rise in the investment banking league tables, as well as their successful implentation of various workplace policies.

What follows are this year’s big winners: the top 10 firms of the 2017 Vault Banking 50. All of our new banking rankings can be found here.