Goldman Sachs ranked first by M&A deal value, while Houlihan Lokey led by deal volume during the first three quarters (Q1-Q3) of 2026, according to GlobalData’s Financial Advisers League Table.
Data from GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database shows that Goldman Sachs advised on transactions with a combined value of $687.6bn.
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Houlihan Lokey advised on 250 deals, the highest volume recorded among the financial advisers in the rankings.
Morgan Stanley ranked second on both measures, with 212 deals worth $659.9bn. JPMorgan followed in third place, having advised on 165 deals valued at $492.5bn.
Bank of America ranked fourth by value, advising on deals worth $315.1bn. Evercore followed with $278.7bn.
By volume, Goldman Sachs ranked fourth after advising on 154 deals. Evercore was fifth, with 133 deals.
GlobalData lead analyst Aurojyoti Bose commented: “Goldman Sachs registered 52.3% year-on-year (YoY) increase in the total value of deals advised by it during Q1-Q3 2026 due to its involvement in some big-ticket deals. Resultantly, its ranking by value improved from second to the top spot. During the review period, it advised on 81 billion-dollar deals* that also included 22 mega deals valued more than $10 billion.
“Meanwhile, Houlihan Lokey was the top adviser by volume during Q1-Q3 2025 and managed to retain its leadership position by this metric during Q1-Q3 2026 as well. It was among the only two advisers that managed to advise on more than 200 deals during Q1-Q3 2026.”
GlobalData’s league tables are based on the real-time tracking of thousands of company websites, advisory firm websites and other reliable sources available on the secondary domain. A dedicated team of analysts monitors all these sources to gather in-depth details for each deal, including adviser names.
To ensure further robustness to the data, the company also seeks submissions of deals from leading advisers.
