• Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley grow market share, top rankings
• Lazard, UBS, Rothschild break into top 10 with colossal deal volume growth
• PwC keeps deal count crown but 13 of top 20 advisors record declines

Though 2026 is still undoubtedly a knockout year for M&A, 3Q did not hit the heights seen in the first six months. Amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, sticky inflation and increasingly testy bond markets, participants in the race for scale took a pause for breath.

It’s important not to overstate the negatives. M&A volume of USD 4.4tn, up 27% year-on-year (YoY), still represents a remarkable haul. But 3Q volume of USD 1.23bn fell 7% YoY and deal count declined 16%, according to Mergermarket data. We are no longer on track to outpace 2021’s status as the dealmaking GOAT.

Within that context, it’s no small feat that financial advisory behemoths Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have continued to grow market share and retain their podium positions in Mergermarket’s 9M26 global and regional M&A rankings.

The three giants stand in a league of their own as the only houses to record volumes topping USD 1tn.

Goldman Sachs takes the gold medal with a truly epic volume haul of USD 1.53tn, up 33.9% YoY and outpacing the global trend. Though slipping one place in the deal count rankings by just one transaction, its No.3 position and hike in volume market share to 44.3% from 36.5% YoY demonstrates its full-spectrum dominance of the field.

Sellside mandates accounted for 68% of Goldman’s volume, though – as ever – this comes with a slight health warning: this data includes defence appointments (including for eBay as it struggles to get its head around GameStop’s theoretical USD 57bn approach) that it may wish not to book by year-end. September also saw Goldman tapped by Australian miner Northern Star Resources, as it digests a USD 25.8bn unsolicited approach from South Africa’s Gold Fields – only time will tell whether fending that off or securing a bump count as a win.

Yet sellside roles for Agricultural Bank of China, as the PRC’s finance ministry and China National Tobacco Corp took a USD 23.8bn stake in the lender; KKR as it exited USI Insurance Services via a sale to Aon in a USD 17bn deal; and AI ecosystem player Hugging Face in its USD 12.9bn agreed takeover by GPU giant NVIDIA are copper-bottomed 3Q successes.

JPMorgan retains its No.2 volume ranking, racking up a 9M26 total of USD 1.11bn, up 23% YoY. With 355 deals in the period, it climbed to fourth from sixth in the transaction count rankings – and was the only player in the top four to see growth on this measure.

Its market share progressed markedly, climbing to 32% from 28.7% last year, buoyed by 3Q buyside roles on megadeals such as Alimentation Couche-Tard’s USD 10.7bn takeover of Polish grocery store group Zabka and that Northern Star deal (one JPMorgan will be hoping does close). Sellside roles for US endocrine-disease treatment specialist Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, which has agreed a USD 11.1bn acquisition by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and on the aforementioned Agricultural Bank of China deal supported JPMorgan’s 3Q run.

Taking the bronze, Morgan Stanley accumulated 9M26 volume of USD 1.02bn, up 26.5% YoY, taking its market share to 29.5% from 25.7% last year. It also saw a remarkable 10% growth in deal count to 299, lifting it to fifth from ninth in the transaction tally ranking. Morgan Stanley’s 3Q deal haul included a buyside mandate on that Crinetics takeover and sellside roles on the USI Insurance Services and Zabka transactions – alongside work for US aviation parts player Consolidated Precision Products Corp, which has agreed a USD 11.8bn sale to GE Aerospace.

Lazard (USD 378.2bn, up 55.9% YoY), UBS (USD 364.2bn, up 51.4% YoY) and Rothschild (USD 358.3bn, up 81.3% YoY) jump into the 9M26 top 10 by volume, reaching sixth, eighth and ninth places, respectively – each with remarkable hikes in aggregate deal values. In 3Q, Lazard had a buyside role on that Crinetics deal and a sellside mandate on Apollo’s USD 9bn minority stake purchase in US midstream energy group ONEOK. It remains to be seen whether buyside roles for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena in its USD 32.3bn approach for Banco BPM and USD 9.5bn tilt at Banca Generali will come good amid major machinations in Italian banking.

Wells Fargo (now ranked at 11, with volume of USD 320.7bn, up 20.2% YoY), Barclays (now at 12, USD 318.5bn, down 1.7% YoY) and Jefferies (now at 14, USD 272.5bn, down 4.2% YoY) have fallen out of the top 10.

A degree of bifurcation has been apparent in M&A throughout 2026, with a rising tide not in fact lifting all boats. Yes, we’ve seen 60 megadeal transactions of more than USD 10bn account for a record 35% of global volume so far this year – but deal count is down 1% YoY and, as observed above, fell more markedly in 3Q.

Mid-market progress is clearly in the spotlight. Private equity investment committees are increasingly selective, burned by longer hold periods and cautious against the backdrop of AI disruption. Sponsor buyout volume of USD 584.2bn is down 11% YoY. However, LP demands for realisations have juiced exits, which have climbed to USD 605.3bn (up 12% YoY).

This mixed context is reflected in 13 of the top 20 financial advisors by deal count recording declines in 9M26.

PwC keeps the top spot with 451 transactions, though this is down by 89 versus 9M25. Houlihan Lokey jumps into second place (from fourth) with 359 deals, down by 15. As referenced above, Goldman Sachs has the bronze medal.

November’s US midterm elections have loomed large over the year, with dealmakers all year telling Mergermarket they hoped to sidestep any political fallout from what is proving to be a contentious campaign. As things stand, President Donald Trump’s Republicans appear set for a pasting. How Trump reacts should Democrats ride a blue wave to Capitol Hill will be consequential for deal pipelines through 2027.

However this plays out, 2026 will close as a very active year for M&A – with financial advisors globally smoothing deals to completion against a host of geopolitical and economic challenges.

Europe 

• Goldman Sachs held on to the top spot in Europe, with a haul worth USD 602.9bn, followed by JPMorgan (USD 489.9bn) and Morgan Stanley (USD 454.4bn).
• PwC retained its lead in deal count with a tally of 292 deals worth USD 61.9bn.
• In the UK, Goldman Sachs remained the leading adviser by volume, with USD 248.1bn across 77 deals.
• Goldman Sachs held onto its DACH crown with USD 158bn across 38 deals.
• In the Middle East & Africa, BofA Securities rose nine places to claim the top spot with USD 88bn, up over 9x from its 9M25 tally.

Americas 

• In the Americas, Goldman Sachs continued to remain the top performer with USD 1.18tn across 270 transactions.
• JP Morgan climbed two places to earn the gold in deal count with 277 deals worth USD 827.9bn.
• This trend was mirrored in the US rankings with Goldman Sachs ranking first by both deal volume and count, with USD 1.14tn across 259 deals.
• RBC Capital Markets took the top spot in Canada, moving up from second place with USD 58.6bn over 33 deals.
• BTG Pactual took the top spot in Latin America by both volume and count with USD 18.5bn across 43 deals.

APAC 

• In APAC excl. Japan, first place stayed with Goldman Sachs with USD 146.7bn, while JPMorgan retained the silver with USD 129.1bn.
• BofA Securities delivered one of the region’s biggest advances, surging from 11th to the third place with USD 100.8bn, up almost 3x from 9M25.
• PwC remained atop the deal count ranking, with 140 transactions worth USD 9.6bn. Morgan Stanley jumped nine places to the runner-up spot with 60 deals.
• In Japan, Morgan Stanley jumped two spots to secure the first place by volume, with USD 50.5bn across 49 deals.
• In Australasia, Goldman Sachs rose from the third to the top spot, with USD 55.3bn across 19 deals, up over 4.6x from the same period last year

Financial sponsor buyouts

• Morgan Stanley rose three places to take the top spot in the global buyout volume ranking, with USD 143.6bn across 45 deals.
• Houlihan Lokey retained the buyout deal count lead, with 66 transactions worth USD 9.7bn.

Financial sponsor exits

• Goldman Sachs remained in first place with USD 159.7bn across 45 deals. Morgan Stanley recorded the second highest volume again, with USD 136.3bn across 36 deals.
• Houlihan Lokey maintained its deal count lead, with 69 transactions worth USD 27.5bn.