July 2026 Investment Bank League Table

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Private markets advisory activity accelerated further in July 2026, with deal counts rising sharply across the top of the table. The top-ranked banks collectively advised on 184 announced transactions during the month, up from 138 in June. Joe, Powered by Dakota tracks investment bank advisor activity across every private market transaction in real time.

Goldman Sachs and Jefferies both held their deal counts flat from June, but the fight below them intensified: J.P. Morgan more than doubled its count to jump from 9th to 3rd, and two firms that dropped out of June's rankings, RBC Capital Markets and Barclays, returned to the table in July. A tie at the bottom of the rankings pushed the table to 11 firms this month.

July 2026 Rankings

Investment Bank	July Rank	July Deal Count	June Rank	June Deal Count	% Change
Goldman Sachs	1	25	1	25	0.0%
Jefferies	2	22	2	22	0.0%
J.P. Morgan	3	21	9	9	+133.3%
BofA Securities	4	19	4	13	+46.2%
Citi	4	19	7	10	+90.0%
Houlihan Lokey	6	17	6	10	+70.0%
RBC Capital Markets	7	15	-	-	Re-Entry
BMO Capital Markets	8	12	8	9	+33.3%
Guggenheim Securities	8	12	10	8	+50.0%
Barclays	10	11	-	-	Re-Entry
William Blair	10	11	-	-	New Entry

Rankings reflect announced private market transactions where the firm served as financial advisor. Ties are shown at the same rank; a tie at 10th extends the table to 11 firms this month.

At the Top: Goldman and Jefferies Hold, J.P. Morgan Surges

Goldman Sachs held the top spot for a second straight month with 25 deals, unchanged from June. Jefferies also held flat at 22 deals, keeping its 2nd-place position.

J.P. Morgan posted the sharpest move on the table, jumping from 9th to 3rd on a 133.3% increase, more than doubling its June count of 9 deals to 21 in July.

The Middle of the Table

BofA Securities and Citi tied at 4th with 19 deals each. BofA grew 46.2% from 13 deals in June, while Citi grew 90.0% from 10, continuing the climb it started last month when it moved up from 9th to 7th.

Houlihan Lokey grew 70.0% to 17 deals, up from 10 in June. RBC Capital Markets returned to the rankings at 7th with 15 deals after dropping out of June's top 10.

BMO Capital Markets and Guggenheim Securities tied at 8th with 12 deals each, up 33.3% and 50.0% respectively from June. Barclays returned to the table at 10th with 11 deals after also dropping out in June, tying with new entrant William Blair, also at 11 deals.

Movement Out of the Top 10

Two firms from June's top 10 dropped out of the July rankings:

Piper Sandler (3rd in June, 13 deals) posted 8 deals in July, falling well outside the top 10.
Centerview Partners (5th in June, 11 deals) posted 9 deals in July.

What to Watch in August

July's advisory activity built on June's momentum, with the tracked top-10 banks combining for 184 deals, up from 138 the prior month. The standout move was J.P. Morgan's jump from 9th to 3rd, and the return of both RBC Capital Markets and Barclays after a month outside the rankings shows how quickly positions can change month to month. With a tie pushing 11 banks into this month's table, the gap between the middle and bottom of the rankings is narrower than it was in June.

Joe tracks global private market transactions in real time, capturing the investment banks advising on both sides of every deal. To explore the full data, request access to Joe.

PH Peter Harris, Investment Research Associate