During an ongoing multi-year in-depth research study on excellent wholesale banks — i.e., corporate, investment, and commercial (SME) banks — C-level executives and senior managers of Fortune Global 500 and Forbes Global 2000 companies demonstrated a strong nationalistic bias, frequently nominating banks from their own countries (or regions).

With regard to investment banks, American executives and senior managers nominated Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, or a boutique bank like Evercore or Centerview. The Swiss turn to UBS. For Germans, Deutsche Bank reigned supreme. The French frequently thought of BNP Paribas, Société Générale, and Natixis; Italians tend to nominate UniCredit, IMI Corporate & Investment Banking (a division of Intesa Sanpaolo), and Mediobanca (three pillars of Italian capitalism), and Japanese C-suite executives and senior managers praised Nomura and financial supermarkets like MUFG and Mizuho.

Of the nominated investment banks, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and J.P. Morgan were the most frequently mentioned (the top 3). The elite is definitely American. At the same time, across Asia, research participants think most highly of large financial conglomerates — usually with integrated corporate & investment bank (‘CIB’) divisions — that have diversified business models. Asian executives and senior managers also prefer diversified universal banks (e.g., J.P. Morgan, UBS, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and Barclays). Many Europeans favored universal banks and the U.S. ‘big five’ (Goldman, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, and Citi). From a business development perspective, U.S. boutique banks like Evercore, Centerview, Moelis & Company, PWP, and PJT Partners have ample opportunities to expand their client base outside the U.S., particularly in Europe and Asia.

Few European and Asian niche players (non-U.S. boutique banks) are ever nominated outside their home countries, confirming the nationalistic bias of C-suite executives and senior managers. Some investment banks actively seek to downplay their national heritage in order to minimize their ‘liability of foreignness’ (the strategy of several Japanese financial conglomerates, for example, Mizuho acquiring Greenhill). By contrast, some investment banks, such as UBS, Santander, and leading French banks, embrace their national identity rather than downplaying it. Leading banks recognize the importance of strong local ties in mitigating perceived foreignness. Their approach typically involves recruiting local staff (senior and junior) and actively participating in local community initiatives.

For more details, visit pieterklaasjagersma.com/decoding-goldman-sachs.