Goldman Sachs and Houlihan Lokey have emerged as the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers by value and volume during the first three quarters (Q1-Q3) of 2026 in the latest Financial Advisers League Table by GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that Goldman Sachs achieved the top position in the deal value rankings by advising on $687.6 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Houlihan Lokey led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 250 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “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.”

Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan occupied the second and third position in both the rankings chart by value as well as volume having advised on 212 deals worth of $659.9 billon, and 165 deals worth of $492.5 billion, respectively.

Meanwhile, Bank of America held the fourth position in terms of value by advising on $315.1 billion worth of deals, followed by Evercore with $278.7 billion.

Goldman Sachs occupied the fourth position in terms of volume by advising on 154 deals followed by Evercore with 133 deals.

*Deals valued ≥ $1 billion