The best (and worst) investment banking sector teams to be in right now
Being in investment banking in 2025 is turning out to be tough. American banks are cutting jobs. European banks are cutting jobs. Bonuses are almost certainly going down due to tariffs. But the generally negative market for investment banking activities applies to some sector teams more than others.
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Data from LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv indicates which banking sector teams enjoyed the biggest revenue increases since the start of the year. By extension, they indicate the teams with the safest jobs and biggest bonus potential.
Refinitiv’s figures are for year to 08 May. They cover the number of deals and their total dollar volume for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), equity capital markets (ECM), and debt capital markets (DCM).
The best and worst M&A teams to be in
The best M&A team to be in at the moment is consumer staples, according to LSEG’s data. This represents resilient, non-cyclical good producers such as of food and drink. There were 814 M&A deals in the sector in the year to the 8th of May, representing $33bn of volume. This was low compared to technology, for example, which had 3,244 deals with $250bn of volume. But the number of consumer staples deals increased by a whopping 129%. Happy days.
On the other hand, the worst M&A team to be in is consumer products. This is an industry that includes manufacturers of cosmetics and clothing – the nice-to-haves, not essentials. There were 1,714 consumer product M&A deals in the year to 8th of May, representing $34bn in volume. Although those might seem like similar (or even better) numbers than consumer staples, Refinitiv shows that deal numbers fell by 45%. Pain.
The best and worst ECM teams to be in
Energy and power teams are the best in ECM at the moment. There were 109 ECM deals in the sector, with $19bn of volume involved, a 49% increase on the number this time last year.
The worst ECM team to be in is technology. Although Goldman’s technology ECM chief told Bloomberg in November last year that he expects the rate of tech IPOs to double, that clearly hasn’t materialized. There have been 175 tech ECM deals in the year so far, a 37% decrease on last year’s volume, and representing $22bn in volume.
The best and worst DCM teams to be in
Unlike in ECM, technology is the best DCM sector to be in. Tech DMC is a very small industry ($64bn in volume) compared to other industries such as government and financial institutions ($1.5tn and $1.8tn volumes, respectively) but it grew substantially compared to 2024; for the period ending 08 May 2025, the 143 tech DCM deals represented a 62% increase on the same period of 2024.
On the other hand, the most unfortunate people in DCM probably cover healthcare. That was primarily driven by institutional, rather than corporate needs: Kaufman Hall noted that healthcare DCM had increased substantially (over 100% up on the year before) in 2024 to fund “renovation and expansion of existing facilities and growth opportunities… Especially around ambulatory expansion.” With DOGE cutting what it sees as frivolous spending, healthcare DCM deals have fallen by 41% so far in 2025, with 59 deals announced that covered $52bn in volume.
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