For private equity firms looking to tap into the full range of deal opportunities and discover new deal sources, there’s proven potential in the long-tail of smaller investment banks.
According to our data, there are 2,269 investment banks with 5 or fewer dealmakers, which accounts for 65% of the total number of investment banks in Private Equity Info's M&A research database.
While these smaller firms may not command headlines, their impact is clearly far from marginal. Some of these firms work on sizable transactions—albeit at a lower volume—contributing meaningfully to the middle market. For private equity firms, overlooking this segment means potentially missing out on valuable, well-matched opportunities.
Private Equity Info's database tracks investment banks and the senior-level executives at those firms. To quantify this landscape, we grouped more than 3,500 investment banks and over 28,000 senior investment bankers into ranges based on the number of dealmakers per firm. This provides a clear view of the industry's structure and where opportunity may lie.
According to our data, the median number of dealmakers at an investment bank is four. These firms typically also include one or two junior bankers and one or two support staff, bringing total headcount to around eight.
The size distribution of investment banks follows a long-tail pattern, with a large number of small firms and a smaller number of large ones. The chart above reflects this distribution, using only executives with titles of Vice President and higher—excluding analysts, associates, support staff, HR, marketing, and administrative roles.
Understanding this structure is key to building effective deal-sourcing strategies. Smaller investment banks may not be the most visible, but they are often well-connected and capable of executing high-value transactions, making them an essential part of the broader deal ecosystem.
Private Equity Info makes it easy to find and connect with these long-tail investment banks. The database allows private equity professionals to filter investment banks by firm size, industry focus, geography, and PE deal history—so you can surface boutique banks that align with your investment thesis.
Whether you're building relationships with new intermediaries or expanding your sell-side outreach, PEI helps you uncover deals you might otherwise miss.
Below, you’ll find more detail on each bank size segment, along with representative firms for exploration.
At the larger end of the spectrum, there are 59 firms with more than 50 dealmakers. Representatives of the largest investment banks (excluding bulge bracket firms) include:
There are 1,067 firms in our M&A research database that fit this profile. Here's a random sampling of median-sized investment banks:
At the other end of the size spectrum, there are 1,202 banks with 1-2 dealmakers actively working on deals. These are often led by managing directors who have left larger investment banks to start their own hyper-efficient firms using their established industry networks. Here's a random sampling of small IB firms: