Explainer
How US investment banks are organized, division by division
Every big US bank sorts its client business into the same few pieces: advisory and capital raising in the investment banking division, trading and sales on the markets side, and research beside them. The names on the org chart differ from bank to bank, and the group you apply to shapes your summer.
This guide uses the banks' own words: how Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase, Morgan Stanley and Citi label their businesses, how Morgan Stanley splits its banking groups on the summer analyst posting, and how boutiques such as Evercore, Lazard and PJT Partners organize advisory work with no trading floor at all.
In short
An investment banking division (IBD) is split into industry coverage groups, which own client relationships in one sector, and product groups, which run one type of deal for every sector, such as M&A. Capital markets teams raise equity and debt and work with both banking and sales and trading. Sales and trading and research make up the markets side. Morgan Stanley, for example, puts all three under Institutional Securities, and Goldman Sachs under Global Banking & Markets.
What each bank calls its divisions
The same work sits under different names. Read the bank's own labels before you write "why this division" on an application.
| Bank | Where IB, trading and research sit | Its other businesses |
|---|---|---|
| Goldman Sachs | Global Banking & Markets: Investment Banking (Mergers & Acquisitions, Capital Solutions), plus FICC and Equities | Asset & Wealth Management; Platform Solutions |
| JPMorganChase | Commercial & Investment Bank: strategic advice, raising capital, managing risk, extending liquidity, payments and safeguarding assets | Asset & Wealth Management; Consumer & Community Banking |
| Morgan Stanley | Institutional Securities: Investment Banking & Global Capital Markets, Sales and Trading, Research | Wealth Management; Investment Management |
| Citi | Banking & International, and Markets, two of its five core businesses | Services; Wealth; U.S. Consumer Cards |
Labels from each bank's own business pages, read Nov 5, 2026.
Coverage groups and product groups
Inside the investment banking division, a coverage group owns the client relationships in one industry: it knows the companies in healthcare or technology, pitches them ideas and brings in the rest of the bank when a deal is on. A product group is built around one kind of transaction and works across every industry: M&A, sponsor work for private equity clients, or a specialist area such as shareholder activism defense.
Morgan Stanley's summer 2027 investment banking posting shows the split plainly. It lists ten coverage groups (Consumer Retail, Financial Institutions, Power & Energy, Healthcare, Industrials, Latin America, Media & Communications, Real Estate, Transportation and Technology) and five product groups (Corporate Separations, Mergers & Acquisitions, Financial Sponsors, Private Capital Advisory and Shareholder Activism).
Goldman Sachs draws the same line on its own site: Mergers & Acquisitions and the Capital Solutions Group are the investment banking services, and industry coverage serves clients sector by sector.
The front-office pieces, in plain terms
What each part of the client business does, from how the banks describe it.
Mergers and acquisitions
Advice on buying, selling, merging and splitting companies. Morgan Stanley's M&A team covers acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, spin-offs, leveraged buyouts and takeover defense.
Capital markets
Raising money. Morgan Stanley's Global Capital Markets originates, structures and executes public and private placements of equity and of investment-grade and non-investment-grade debt, drawing on both banking and sales and trading. Goldman Sachs runs this as its Capital Solutions Group, across the full range of underwriting.
Sales and trading
Market making and execution for institutional clients. At Goldman Sachs, FICC covers interest rate and credit products, mortgages, currencies and commodities, and Equities covers stocks, convertibles, ETFs, options, futures and prime financing.
Research
Analysis of companies, sectors, markets and economies for the bank's clients. Morgan Stanley places Research inside Institutional Securities, next to banking and trading.
Restructuring
Advice to companies under financial stress. Lazard hires summer 2028 analysts straight into Restructuring & Liability Management in New York and Chicago, as well as through its generalist program.
Asset and wealth management
Managing money for institutions and individuals. Goldman Sachs and JPMorganChase both run it as a separate business from the investment bank.
How boutiques are organized
Advisory boutiques have no trading floor and no lending book, so the whole firm is the advisory side. Evercore's advisory business covers M&A; Strategic, Defense & Shareholder Advisory; special committee assignments; and Real Estate Strategic Advisory.
Lazard advises on M&A, restructurings, capital structure and capital raising through its financial advisory business, and runs asset management alongside it. Its summer 2028 US postings are cut by group and city: M&A / Restructuring Generalist, Restructuring & Liability Management, Capital Solutions, Corporate Finance Advisory, Shareholder Advisory & Activism Defense, and industry teams in healthcare, technology, industrials and power, energy and infrastructure.
PJT Partners offers strategic advisory, shareholder advisory, restructuring and special situations, and private fund advisory through PJT Park Hill. Its strategic advisory team covers industries from financial institutions and healthcare to energy and technology.
Where a summer analyst actually sits
Placement works three ways, and the posting tells you which one you are applying to.
- 01
Direct hire into one group
You interview with the group and join it. Morgan Stanley's summer 2027 posting lists direct-hire groups such as Financial Institutions, Real Estate, Houston Power & Energy and Menlo Park Technology. J.P. Morgan's summer 2028 Houston posting puts analysts in the Natural Resources team.
- 02
Generalist program, placed later
You get a generalist offer and a group comes later. Morgan Stanley places its New York Generalist analysts during onboarding, before the summer starts. Lazard's New York generalist program gives exposure across its M&A coverage groups and Restructuring.
- 03
Placed after training
PJT's summer 2028 Houston analysts start with M&A training, then work with the Oil & Gas Group for the rest of the 10 weeks.
- 04
Ranking your choices
Some banks ask for preferences up front. Morgan Stanley's application lets you rank up to three offices and up to three banking groups.
What the work looks like in a summer
The postings describe the same core tasks across banks and boutiques.
- Building financial models and valuation analyses (J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Lazard).
- Preparing client presentations and materials for meetings and live deals (J.P. Morgan, Lazard, PJT).
- Company and industry research, and analyzing comparative financial performance (Lazard, Morgan Stanley).
- Working across industry and product teams on advisory and capital markets assignments (J.P. Morgan).
- Supporting execution: financings and M&A at Morgan Stanley, sell-sides, acquisitions and capital raises at PJT.
Mistakes that show you did not read the org chart
Mistake: Writing "investment banking" on a Goldman Sachs application as if it were the whole firm.
Fix: Name the business and the team. Investment Banking is one part of Global Banking & Markets, beside FICC and Equities.
Mistake: Pitching M&A modeling when you applied to a capital markets seat.
Fix: Say why raising equity or debt interests you. Capital markets sits between the bankers and the sales and trading desks.
Mistake: Treating a boutique like a smaller bulge bracket.
Fix: Boutiques sell advice only. Talk about advisory work, such as M&A, restructuring or activism defense, not trading or lending.
Mistake: Picking groups at random on a ranked application.
Fix: Rank groups you can defend in an interview: the sector you follow or the deal type you can talk about. Morgan Stanley asks for up to three.
The process at the banks named here
Our US guides to each bank's summer 2028 application and final round.
Key takeaways
- Coverage groups own clients in one industry; product groups run one type of deal across every industry.
- Capital markets raises equity and debt and works with both the bankers and the trading desks.
- Goldman Sachs groups IB and trading under Global Banking & Markets; Morgan Stanley under Institutional Securities; JPMorganChase under the Commercial & Investment Bank.
- Boutiques such as Evercore, Lazard and PJT Partners are advisory only, cut by deal type and industry.
- Read the posting: it tells you whether you join one group, a generalist pool or a group after training.
Investment Banking Divisions Explained
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