Goldman Sachs has emerged as the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial adviser in the financial services sector for 2021 by both value and volume, according to GlobalData, which noted that Goldman Sachs advised on 76 deals worth $134.1 billion. The leading data and analytics company revealed that a total of 3,854 M&A deals were announced in the sector during 2021.

According to GlobalData’s report, ‘Global and Financial Services M&A Report Financial Adviser League Tables 2021’, deal value for the sector increased by 21.1% from $430.6 billion in 2020 to $521.3 billion in 2021.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Not only did Goldman Sachs advise on more than 70 deals in 2021, the highest of the advisors we tracked, around 40% were billion-dollar deals, valued more than or equal to $1 billion. These big-ticket deals helped the firm secure the top spot in both metrics.”

JP Morgan occupied the second position in terms of value, with 68 deals worth $106.6 billion; followed by Morgan Stanley, with 44 deals worth $91.1 billion; Citi, with 40 deals worth $43.5 billion; and Lazard, with 20 deals worth $42 billion.

Piper Sandler occupied the second position in terms of volume, with 70 deals worth $31.6 billion. JP Morgan occupied the third position by volume; followed by Stifel/KBW, with 67 deals worth $41.7 billion; and Rothschild & Co, with 53 deals worth $34.8 billion.