M&A · ECM · DCM · PRIVATE CAPITAL · RESTRUCTURING
Investment Banking & Advisory
Executive Search
56+ IB / Advisory Placements — with an average 88 Days time-to-placement and a 12-month candidate guarantee.
56+
IB / Advisory Placements
88 Days
Avg. Time-to-Placement
92%
Offer Acceptance Rate
12 Months
Candidate Guarantee
Specialisation withinProfessional Services·Elevating Advisory Excellence
Independent investment banking and advisory in India spans the bulge-bracket India platforms (Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi, BofA, Deutsche, HSBC, UBS), the domestic full-service houses (Kotak Investment Banking, Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, JM Financial, IIFL, Motilal Oswal, Nomura India, Avendus), the M&A / PE boutiques (Arpwood, Veda Corporate Advisors, Allegro, Equirus, MAPE, o3 Capital, Spark, Edelweiss Financial), the restructuring specialists (Alvarez & Marsal, AlixPartners, Duff & Phelps, Kroll, BDO Restructuring), and the in-house corporate-development functions at listed groups and PE platforms.
Is This Your Situation?
If any of these sound familiar, you're speaking to the right practice.
→A bulge-bracket rebuilt its India FIG Coverage MD bench after two exits — two placements over 8 months, combined year-one fees $14M
→A domestic full-service IB needed an ECM Head for IPO-cycle capture — placed a bulge-bracket MD in 86 days
→A restructuring boutique hired a senior MD with IBC resolution-professional credibility — practice revenue +62% year-on-year
→A listed conglomerate hired a Head of Corp-Dev from a bulge-bracket — M&A pipeline delivered four transactions in 18 months
Our Investment Banking & Advisory Track Record
Situation:
A bulge-bracket India platform needed to replace two FIG MDs after senior exits.
Outcome:
Placed two MDs over 8 months from competing bulge-brackets; combined first-year fees tracked $14M; FIG league-table ranking recovered to top-3.
Situation:
A domestic full-service IB needed an ECM Head to capture the 2025 IPO cycle.
Outcome:
Placed a bulge-bracket MD in 86 days; firm completed 11 IPO mandates in first 12 months vs baseline of 4.
All client details anonymised. Specific mandates available for reference under NDA upon request.
Our Investment Banking & Advisory Practice
Independent investment banking and advisory in India spans the bulge-bracket India platforms (Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi, BofA, Deutsche, HSBC, UBS), the domestic full-service houses (Kotak Investment Banking, Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, JM Financial, IIFL, Motilal Oswal, Nomura India, Avendus), the M&A / PE boutiques (Arpwood, Veda Corporate Advisors, Allegro, Equirus, MAPE, o3 Capital, Spark, Edelweiss Financial), the restructuring specialists (Alvarez & Marsal, AlixPartners, Duff & Phelps, Kroll, BDO Restructuring), and the in-house corporate-development functions at listed groups and PE platforms.
Gladwin’s Investment Banking practice places Managing Directors, Heads of Sector / Product, Heads of M&A / ECM / DCM / Private Placements / Restructuring, and Heads of Corporate Development at listed corporates. Every search maps league-table credibility, client-fee origination history, dollarised / rupee compensation architecture and the team dynamics that determine whether a senior banker transitions cleanly.
As a specialist CFO placements in listed corporates, our practice also covers Business Development & Sales leadership, our practice also covers Professional Services practice overview, and as a source for Professional Services — HR consulting & executive search.
The Investment Banking & Advisory Landscape Today
India IB fee pool crossed $1.6 billion in 2025 with record ECM activity ($18B+ IPO year), robust domestic M&A, a rebuilt DCM franchise and PE-deal activity at all-time highs. Bulge-bracket India platforms are re-examining booking models and cost-to-income; domestic IBs have closed league-table gaps in mid-market M&A and ECM; restructuring has grown under IBC and stressed-asset resolution. Sovereign / PSU banker cohorts face pay compression vs private and boutique peers.
Key Leadership Challenges in Investment Banking & Advisory
Dollarised compensation gaps between bulge-bracket and domestic platforms — senior banker portability is economics-driven
League-table pressure — senior bankers are measured on deal-count, deal-value and fee-share; falling behind triggers exits
Team portability — MD moves typically pull 3–10 bankers, which shifts entire sector coverage
Sector coverage depth where relationships sit personally with the banker, not the firm
Restructuring capability as stressed-asset and IBC mandates proliferate
Boutique economics — profit-sharing architecture must close the bulge-bracket gap to attract
What We Look For in Investment Banking & Advisory Leaders
Across mandates, investment banking & advisory leadership tends to cluster into a small set of archetypes. We calibrate each search against the profile your board actually needs — not the one most commonly available.
The Bulge-Bracket MD
A senior MD with 14–20 years at GS / JPM / MS / Citi / BofA, league-table-recognised deal sheet, dollarised deferred-stock equity and discipline of global deal-committee governance.
The Domestic IB MD
A senior banker at Kotak / Axis / ICICI Securities / JM Financial / IIFL / Avendus with deep corporate-client relationships, mid-market M&A / ECM fee franchise and the governance rhythm of Indian full-service IBs.
The Boutique Founding Banker
A founder / senior Partner of a boutique IB with 20+ years, entrepreneurial profit-share economics, bespoke-deal origination credibility and a 12–40-banker firm P&L stewardship.
The Restructuring Specialist
An IBC / stressed-assets / restructuring senior banker with resolution-professional credentials, CoC-negotiation credibility and deal-volume across 15–40 IBC matters.
The Head of Corporate Development
A senior banker turned Head-of-Corp-Dev at a listed group with M&A transaction-execution credibility, integration-playbook stewardship and CEO / board-level counsel.
The Sector-Coverage Specialist
An MD with deep single-sector franchise (FS / Consumer / Healthcare / Infra / Tech), top-10 client relationships and the ability to deliver cross-product wallet share.
Regulatory & Compensation Context
Regulatory Backdrop
SEBI (Merchant Bankers) Regulations 1992; SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2018 for ECM; SEBI LODR for listed-client advisory; SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations 2011; Companies Act 2013 for M&A and schemes; IBC 2016 for resolution and stressed assets; Competition Act 2002 for merger-control; FEMA / RBI Master Directions for cross-border transactions; SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations 2015; Banking Regulation Act 1949 for bank-owned IBs.
Compensation Architecture
Bulge-bracket MDs: $1.2–3.5M total comp (fixed + bonus + deferred-stock); Domestic IB senior MDs: ₹4–12 Cr + performance bonus + ESOP; Boutique senior Partners: ₹3–10 Cr + profit-share architecture; Restructuring senior MDs: ₹3–8 Cr + success-fee participation; Heads of Corp-Dev at listed corporates: ₹3.5–7 Cr + LTI / ESOP. Team lift-outs typically involve guarantee-year arrangements and sign-on buyouts for deferred-stock claw-backs.
Roles We Typically Place
Why Gladwin International Leadership Advisors for Investment Banking & Advisory
Managing Director and Head-of-IB searches at bulge-bracket, domestic and boutique platforms
Sector-coverage MD hires (FS, Consumer, Industrials, Healthcare, Technology, Infrastructure)
Product-head searches — M&A, ECM, DCM, Leveraged Finance, Private Placements, Restructuring
Chief Financial Officer / Head-of-Corporate-Development placements at listed conglomerates
PE-sponsor coverage and fund-advisory-platform hires
Team lift-outs with flight-risk mapping and retention architecture
Boutique founding-MD and senior-banker partnerships
Organisations We Serve
Bulge-bracket India platforms — GS, JPM, MS, Citi, BofA, Deutsche, HSBC, UBS, Nomura
Domestic full-service IBs — Kotak IB, Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, JM Financial, IIFL, Avendus, Motilal Oswal
M&A / PE boutiques — Arpwood, Veda, Allegro, Equirus, MAPE, o3 Capital, Spark
Restructuring specialists — A&M, AlixPartners, Duff & Phelps, Kroll, BDO Restructuring
Corporate-Development heads at listed conglomerates (Tata, Reliance, Aditya Birla, Mahindra, Adani, L&T)
Head-of-IR / Treasury roles at listed corporates with advisory-transition bankers
Investment Banking & Advisory leaders assessed on the Professional Services “COUNSEL” framework
Seven dimensions calibrated for professional services leadership. Dimensions are calibrated for investment banking & advisory mandates where relevant.
Parent Practice
Return to Professional Services
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