Don't disparage the UBS US M&A bankers who are hard at work
Tomorrow, Dealogic, the provider of investment banking league tables and ranking information, will provide its league tables for the first half of 2026. When it does, UBS's US M&A bankers will undoubtedly be criticised once again on a popular forum for their poor showing in M&A.
But maybe it's not as bad as it seems.
💥Follow us on WhatsApp for news alerts.💥
On one hand, it does seem quite bad. One week ago, UBS ranked 22nd for US M&A deals measured in terms of fees generated according to Dealogic figures. The Swiss bank ranked well behind the likes of Houlihan Lokey (10th) and Barclays (9th). Five years ago, UBS and Credit Suisse in combination ranked 4th in the US M&A market in the first half of the year. Even after the chaos of the merger, the combined banks ranked 14th in the first half of 2023. The slide has therefore been dramatic.
However, things are improving. While UBS ranked 22nd for US M&A fees this year, that's an improvement on its 23rd place position for the same period of 2025. The tide has turned, maybe.
UBS declined to comment for this article, but there may be some mitigating factors. As we've noted before, being a top M&A banker in 2026 is all about winning a position advising on a few huge deals. UBS bankers may have missed some of these deals, but they've been very busy working on smaller deals that presumably generate smaller fees.
UBS has also got some new bankers who could soon make a difference. Taylor Henricks joined from Morgan Stanley as head of US M&A last October. Following Henricks' arrival, some of the senior bankers UBS previously hired from Barclays have left. Richard Hardegree, an ex-Barclays technology and semiconductors banker, left in May for Bank of America, for example.
UBS hired over 25 senior bankers from Barclays after acquiring Credit Suisse. Some Credit Suisse bankers were unhappy with this and have complained ever since that that the Barclays bankers were a bad idea. Now that their allegedly large guaranteed bonuses have expired, the Barclays hires are likely to move on. Henricks could then hire from Morgan Stanley instead.
Follow me on X. Follow me on LinkedIn.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Signal: sarahbutcher.22 Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com.
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: comments are moderated intermittently by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You must take sole responsibility for comments you post on this site. We will take reasonable steps to weed out anything that we consider to be offensive or inappropriate.
