Griffin Adams ’26 pitched Evercore Inc. (NYSE: EVR) on April 20, 2026. Evercore is the world’s leading independent investment banking advisory firm, founded in 1995 and operating across 28 offices in 11 countries. The firm consistently ranks alongside the five major bulge bracket banks in announced M&A deal volume, with Investment Banking & Equities generating 98% of 2025 revenues and a Senior Managing Director base that has grown more than 50% since year-end 2021.
Griffin’s investment thesis is built on three core pillars: an elite M&A advisory franchise, SMD-driven revenue compounding supported by compensation ratio discipline, and a differentiated Private Capital Advisory business providing cycle-resilient growth.
First, Evercore has built an elite large-cap M&A advisory franchise, with average deal sizes comparable to the bulge bracket banks and a consistent presence among the top-ranked firms in globally announced M&A deal volume. This positioning reflects decades of execution, relationship depth, and a growing share of the global advisory fee pool. Because these gains are structural rather than cyclical, EVR is positioned to compound advisory fee revenue through multiple M&A cycles.
Second, Evercore’s growth engine is fundamentally talent-driven. The firm systematically recruits elite senior bankers, with 2025 marking its largest lateral hiring class in firm history. Beyond external recruitment, 40% of IB SMDs have been promoted internally, the highest proportion ever, underscoring meaningful pipeline depth from within. As headcount grows and deal activity recovers, normalization of the compensation ratio toward its long-run mean converts top-line growth into disproportionate earnings expansion, making SMD productivity and compensation discipline the two most critical variables in translating a recovering M&A market into shareholder value.
Third, Evercore’s Private Capital Advisory business provides a differentiated growth vector that partially insulates the firm from traditional M&A cycle volatility. PCA capitalizes on secular expansion in the private capital secondaries market, not by offsetting M&A downturns, but by adding a steady earnings stream through the cycle that diversifies revenue and strengthens the long-run investment case.
SMIF voted to establish a long position of approximately $49,481 in EVR, purchasing 140 shares funded through the sale of CFG and SPGI.
Leave a Reply