What do people associate with investment banking?
Jamie Dimon. Vampire Squid. Bloomberg. Booms-and-busts. Wall Street and Square Mile. Complicated algorithms and glorious slide decks. Seven-figure paychecks too. Here, the dream is to ‘Get rich and get out’ – because you’re only as good as your last deal.
To most, banking is a burnout job – no break, no balance, no life. Fierce competition, crushing workloads, and never-ending deadlines – an unrelenting pressure to be a Master of the Universe. In the bigger picture, is that any way to live?
SIXTH TIME IS THE CHARM
That’s exactly the question being asked in banking: wealth or health? You’ll find some of the answers in the Vault Banking 25. An annual survey conducted since 2007, the Vault Banking 25 surveys banking professionals on the measures that matter most to them. Forget KPIs like assets-to-liabilities, AUM growth, and net profit. Instead, bankers weigh in on dimensions like benefits, hours, training, compensation, and leadership. For the 6th consecutive year, Centerview Partners has remained the best place to work according to bankers themselves.
On a 10-point index, Centerview Partners averaged a 9.035 index score, over .10 of a point higher than the previous year. Evercore scored an 8.635 average to hold onto the #2 spot, with Moelis & Company again rounding out the top three at 8.221. However, the Vault Banking 25 is poised for a shake-up as PJT Partners and Perella Weinberg Partners each climbed three spots to rank 4th and 5th respectively.
VAULT BANKING 25 METHODOLOGY
The ranking was compiled by Vault, an intelligence resource that collects employee reviews to provide rankings and in-depth company profiles in areas like law, consulting, banking, accounting, and internships. In addition, Vault provides expert career advice across 14 blogs and over 100 career guides. Among the blogs, Vault covers areas ranging from graduate school to negotiation strategies, while the guides include behavioral interviews, industry-specific jobs, and legal practice areas.
In the 2025 banking survey, which was conducted last fall, Vault received roughly 2,800 responses – or approximately 400 more than the previous year’s sample. To rate employers, Vault applies a 10-point scale, with 10 being the highest possible score. In the survey, respondents are asked to rate their employer across 20 work-life and 6 diversity dimensions (with the latter not factored into Vault’s rankings formula).
Like previous years, Firm Culture accounts for a 20% weight, followed by Compensation (10%), Business Outlook (10%), Overall Satisfaction (10%), Work-Life Balance (5%), and Formal and Informal Training (5%). The remaining 40% is devoted to Firm Prestige. Unlike the Work-Life dimensions, where respondents rated their own employers, survey-takers scored the Prestige of competitors with whom they have interacted. Overall, the Vault Banking 25 surveyed professionals from 85 firms, excluding firms that had fewer than 15 responses in any question from the ranking dimension.
CENTERVIEW ACHIEVES TOP SCORE IN 90% OF WORK-LIFE DIMENSIONS
Based in New York City, Centerview Partners is an advisory firm that’s home to over 600 employees. In recent years, Centerview Partners has led or advised on M&A deals that have included PepsiCo, Merck, UBS, L’Oréal Group, Pfizer, AstraZenca, Oracle, and Blackstone. What sets the firm apart in the Vault 25 Banking Ranking? Think all-around excellence, particularly in pay, culture, work, ad talent.
Among the 20 dimensions rated by Vault, Centerview Partners produced the highest average score in 18 of them. That includes every weighed work-life dimension weighed in the ranking except Formal Training (2.5%). In other words, Centerview Partners survey respondents gave their employer the highest marks in the following dimensions: Benefits, Business Outlook, Client Interaction, Compensation, Culture, ESG Practices, Firm Leadership, Hiring Process, Hours, Informal Training, Internal Mobility, Promotion Policies, Quality of Work, Relationships with Managers, Satisfaction, Vacation Policies, Wellness, and Work/Life Balance. What’s more, Centerview Partners climbed to #1 over the past year in Client Interaction and Vacation Policies.
“You work hard, as with all positions within the industry, but you are rewarded with interesting, thought-provoking work in the most complicated situations,” writes one Vault survey-taker. “Centerview is on the forefront of industry-defining transactions across both M&A and restructuring. People genuinely care about your well-being and development, in and outside of the office.”
THE PERKS OF BEING #1
Certainly, Centerview’s perks are market-setters. Picture a café with an in-house chef providing free breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. There is an on-site gym and internal sports teams. Ubers are free too – and there is a barista on staff to make the richest coffees. And then there is the pay…
“Pay is top of Street by a long shot,” adds another survey respondent.
Career development is another differentiator at Centerview Partners. One survey-taker points out that Centerview University trainings and homework are “graded personally by bankers within the firm.” Another staffer points to the firm’s emphasis on developing homegrown talent through formal mentorship programs, ongoing training, and thoughtful staffing. In other words, Centerview Partners embodies a coaching culture that invests heavily in new talent, expecting them to eventually grow into difference-makers and partners.
“A very high level of responsibility is given to team members who are keen to develop their skillset,” according to one Centerview survey respondent. “Given the teams are small, team members are often given the opportunity to step up and play the role of senior members on the team.”
HIGH PERFORMANCE AND HIGH PRESTIGE
More than anything, Centerview bankers are bullish on the future. One anonymous respondent observes that “morale is through the roof,” adding that the firm’s secret weapons are banking fundamentals: “genuine business insights and flawless execution of deals.” This confidence – coupled with an expectation of excellence – permeates the firm top-to-bottom,” adds another survey-taker.
“We have a suite of industry-leading senior bankers with proven abilities to lead the Street across several industries (biotech, healthcare services, consumer, special committee, etc.). Also, senior hires focused on geopolitical expertise has been highly tactical and will continue to become a larger and larger piece of the puzzle for independent advisors. There are lots of tools that Centerview is equipped with that are difficult for the competition to replicate, especially the larger players.”
Competing firms are equally upbeat on Centerview Partners’ prospects. The firm achieved the second-highest score in Firm Prestige at 8.328, up .210 of a point over the previous year. At the same time, it narrowed the Prestige gap with Goldman Sachs to .448 of a point – a difference that was .773 of a point just two years ago.

Wall Street
EVERCORE DEFINED BY TALENT DEVELOPMENT
Evercore again holds down the #2 spot in the Vault Banking 25. Like previous years, Evrecore posted the highest score in the Formal Training dimension. By the same token, Evercore ranked 2nd for both Business Outlook and Hiring Process and Top 5 in 8 other dimensions. The firm also finished 4th in the all-important Prestige dimension, representing a .155 uptick in the process.
Among the firm’s marquee attractions, say Vault survey respondents, is the work-life balance. One respondent observes that bankers can work from home on evenings. Even more, Evercore places greater emphasis on work over political considerations like ‘face time.’
“[The] best aspect is that quality of life is a major focus of our group,” explains one survey respondent. “Weekend hours are audited, and senior members of teams are held accountable if it seems that junior teams have been working unnecessarily…We also respect protected Saturdays (which is enforced, subject to explicit client needs). Individuals are encouraged to take vacation, and teams provide robust coverage so that they are uninterrupted. Our group is very busy, but that has nothing to do with the culture or institution of our group itself; it’s just a testament to the group’s ability to generate high quality work.”
Like Centerview Partners, Evercore also emphasizes an apprenticeship culture where senior bankers devote heavy time to developing younger talent. One survey-taker reveals that he is being “actively mentored by multiple senior leaders in the firm,” along with “work[ing] directly with VPs, MDs, and Senior MDs on deal teams” In a similar fashion, Evercore delivers intensive formal training, with new hires completing a month-long program before they are ever put on the desk.
“Evercore has a top training program that equips its incoming analysts with all the skills necessary to succeed.,” adds another Vault respondent from the firm. “This is in part because the training is specifically designed for Evercore instead of an off-the-shelf training program. Evercore teams also host plenty of networking and mentorship opportunities between junior and seniors. As an intern, I had a 1-on-1 with our chairman and with our global head of investment banking. Such exposure is hard to find anywhere else on the Street.”
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