Pretty much all banks that are not considered “bulge bracket” are referred to as being boutiques. Boutiques, while ranging in size from a few professionals to hundreds or even thousands of professionals, can generally be categorized into three types: (1) those that specialize in one or more products, (2) those that specialize in one or more industries and (3) those that specialize in small or mid-sized deals and small or mid-sized clients (generally less than $500 million).
There are boutiques that specialize in any number of the products that bulge bracket banks offer. Boutiques known for M&A, for example, often compete with the bulge bracket banks for M&A transactions. A few examples include Lazard, Greenhill, Evercore and Gleacher. Other boutiques offer many different products but specialize in one or more industries. Such boutiques often compete with the bulge bracket banks on the basis of their industry knowledge and expertise. A few examples include Cowen & Co. (healthcare), Allen & Co. (media) and Thomas Weisel Partners (technology). The third type of boutique, those that offer many products and cover many industries but compete only for “middle market” or smaller deals include Jefferies & Co., Piper Jaffray, Raymond James and Robert W. Baird. Many of these middle market boutiques are regionally focused. Some boutiques, including several of the M&A focused banks, are considered to be as (or even more) prestigious as the bulge bracket banks.