A new ranking of Europe’s top investment bankers reveals that no women were included in the top 10 by number of deals over £100m. According to the research by data platform Mergerlinks , the top deal doer in Europe in the year ended the first half of 2019 was Rothschild & Co banker Dominic Hollamby who advised on seven deals valued at £15.7bn during the period. Dirk Pahlke of Rothschild & Co was in second with six deals valued at £1.5bn, followed by Joe Hannon of Credit Suisse with five deals valued at £12.2bn, with Anthony Gutman of Goldman Sachs on five deals valued at £11.9bn and Will Lawes of Lazard in fifth on four deals valued at £11bn. Read more: Top investment bank fees slide across the board in 2019 amid deals slowdown in Europe and US According to the data, the top female M&A banker was Virginie Lazes of Rothschild & Co who advised on four deals of an undisclosed value, followed by Charlotte Craigie of Goodbody who advised on three deals valued at £321m, Claire Brooksby of JP Morgan who acted on two deals valued at £2.5bn, Shannon Nicholls of Rothschild & Co who advised on two deals valued at £1.6bn and Emma Gabriel of Canaccord Genuity who acted on two deals valued at £490m. Mergerlinks chief executive Bartosz Jaskula said: “It’s pretty evident that women are highly under-represented within the sector. We have 50,000 dealmakers profiled and it’s tough to find female bankers in senior roles.” Read more: More than a quarter of investment bankers say work is damaging their health In contrast, the company’s ranking of the top 10 M&A lawyers included two women: Linklaters partner Jessamy Gallagher who acted on four deals valued at £8.9bn and Ashurst partner Karen Davies who advised on four deals valued at £6.5bn. Jaskula said the banking industry still had catching up to do on gender diversity, but noted improvements in maternity and paternity leave policies as evidence the sector was starting to address the issue. “I think they are making progress but they are still behind the curve that’s for sure,” he said.
Women didn't figure among the 10 biggest European investment banking dealmakers during H1, according to Mergerlinks. It said Rothschild's Virginie Lazes was the highest-ranking woman, with four deals of undisclosed value, followed by Goodbody's Charlotte Craigie. The report also found that women were underrepresented in some areas such as mergers and acquisitions, where they made up just 1 percent of deals. The banking sector had some "catching up to do on gender diversity", said Mergerlinks CEO Bartosz Jaskula. In contrast, the top-10 mergers and acquisitions lawyers included two females: Linklaters partner Jessamy Gallagher and Ashurst partner Karen Davies.