The Best Investment Banks To Work For

“Bad luck comes in threes,” they say. That is, unless you’re The Blackstone Group. In their case, you could argue that “Third time’s a charm.”

This month, Blackstone completed the trifecta, the 3-peat. For the third consecutive year, they were named as “the best bank to work for” by Vault, the leading source for employer insights, reviews, and ratings. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley again finished second and third, with Goldman Sachs named the industry’s most prestigious firm for the tenth year running.

GOLDMAN SACHS AND MORGAN STANLEY CLOSING IN ON TOP SPOT

“The score differential among the top three firms—Blackstone, Goldman, and Morgan Stanley—was much tighter this year than last,” wrote Derek Loosvelt, senior finance editor at Vault, in a statement.”So while the top three firms in the rankings were the same this year, Goldman and Morgan Stanley are gaining on Blackstone. The difference this year was likely the highly publicized workplace policies enacted by Goldman—the ‘protected’ days for junior bankers—and the continued turnaround at Morgan Stanley. Both firms received higher ratings in several important workplace categories, including work/life balance, work hours, and overall satisfaction.”

You can think of the Vault Banking 50 rankings as the “people’s rankings.” Each year, Vault surveys banking professionals (at all levels) on how they would score their employers in areas like company leadership, career growth, training, and pay. In addition, respondents rate other firms based on their perceived “prestige” — with brand often equated with know-how, connections, stability, and hefty paychecks in the banking world.

Overall, 3,000 bankers participated in the 2016 Vault Banking Survey, down from 3,600 in 2015. As with previous rankings, firms are evaluated using a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest score). The data is then entered into a formula, where certain categories are given certain weights: Prestige (40%), firm culture (20%), compensation (10%), business outlook (10%), overall satisfaction (10%), work/life balance (5%), and training (5%).

• See next page for firms ranked 26-50.