Morgan Stanley and Piper Sandler were the top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisers in the financial services sector during 2025 by value and volume, respectively, according to the latest financial advisers league table by GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Financial Deals Database reveals that Morgan Stanley achieved the leading position in terms of value by advising on $89.7 billion worth of deals. Meanwhile, Piper Sandler led in terms of volume by advising on a total of 53 deals.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Morgan Stanley was also the top adviser by value in 2024 and outpaced its peers by a significant margin in this metric last year as well. The global investment bank advised on 19 billion-dollar deals* that also included a mega deal valued more than $10 billion. It is notable that these 19 deals collectively were worth more than 87 billion. The involvement in these big-ticket deals helped it to maintain the significant lead in terms of value. In addition, Morgan Stanley occupied the fourth position by volume in 2025.

“Meanwhile, Piper Sandler led by volume but faced closed competition from Stifel/KBW for the top spot by this metric.  Stifel/KBW occupied the second position in terms of volume with 50 deals.”

Houlihan Lokey occupied the third position in terms of volume with 44 deals, followed by Morgan Stanley with 43 deals and Goldman Sachs with 40 deals.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs occupied the second position in terms of value, by advising on $67.1 billion worth of deals, followed by JPMorgan with $66.7 billion, Evercore with $55.3 billion and Barclays with $41.8 billion.

*Deals valued ≥ $1 billion