Author: Taylor Warfield, Former Bain Manager and interviewer

Last Updated: September 24, 2026

 

Top restructuring consulting firms include Alvarez & Marsal, AlixPartners, and FTI Consulting at the head of the market, followed by Ankura, Berkeley Research Group, Huron, Teneo, Kroll, and Riveron, plus the turnaround practices inside McKinsey and the Big 4. This guide sorts every firm into tiers, shows what each one pays, flags which firms actually hire undergraduates, and walks through how to land an offer.

 

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Key Takeaways

 

Alvarez & Marsal, AlixPartners, and FTI Consulting are the three firms that handle the largest and most complex restructuring engagements, and they should be the first three names on your target list.

 

• Three pure-play firms lead the market, and everyone else competes for the tier below them

 

• AlixPartners pays the most of the three, with a $250,000 median total compensation package reported to Levels.fyi in 2026

 

• FTI Consulting is the only pure-play firm that reports public financials, and its Corporate Finance segment brought in roughly 41% of $3.79 billion in 2025 revenue

 

• Most firms hire undergraduates into analyst roles, but McKinsey RTS hires almost exclusively at the manager level and above

 

• Interviews test liquidity math and accounting fluency, not just case structure

 

• Demand tracks the default cycle, and 2025 produced the highest US corporate bankruptcy count since 2010

 

What Are the Top Restructuring Consulting Firms?

 

The top restructuring consulting firms are Alvarez & Marsal, AlixPartners, and FTI Consulting, which together handle most large and complex turnaround mandates. Below them sit diversified advisory firms such as Ankura, Berkeley Research Group, Huron, Teneo, Kroll, and Riveron, followed by specialist boutiques and the restructuring arms of McKinsey and the Big 4.

 

Here is how the market sorts out in practice.

 

Tier	Firms	Known for
Tier 1: pure-play leaders	Alvarez & Marsal, AlixPartners, FTI Consulting	Chapter 11 mandates, interim C-suite roles, creditor and debtor advisory
Tier 2: diversified advisory	Ankura, Berkeley Research Group, Huron, Teneo, Kroll, Riveron	Mid-market turnarounds bundled with disputes, forensics, and valuation
Tier 3: specialist boutiques	M3 Partners, SierraConstellation Partners, Accordion, Paladin Management	Small teams, sponsor-backed and middle-market distress, heavy CRO work
Tier 4: practices inside larger firms	McKinsey RTS, BCG TURN, Deloitte, EY-Parthenon, KPMG, PwC, Grant Thornton, BDO, RSM	Performance improvement, financial advisory, and cost transformation

 

Independent industry data lines up with this. Consultancy.org's US restructuring ranking assessed more than 500 firms and qualified only 27 as top players, placing Alvarez & Marsal, PwC, and FTI Consulting in its highest band.

 

One thing worth understanding before you build a target list: the tier a firm sits in tells you about deal size and prestige, not about how good your career will be. A senior associate running a real turnaround at a Tier 3 boutique often gets more responsibility than a Tier 1 analyst building schedules.

 

Which Three Firms Dominate Restructuring Consulting?

 

Alvarez & Marsal, AlixPartners, and FTI Consulting dominate because they combine three things almost nobody else has together: courtroom credibility, the ability to install their own people as interim executives, and enough scale to staff a global Chapter 11 case in a week.

 

Alvarez & Marsal

 

Alvarez & Marsal is the largest of the three and the most operationally focused. Tony Alvarez II and Bryan Marsal founded the firm in 1983, and it now employs more than 10,000 professionals worldwide, including roughly 2,200 across Asia-Pacific alone according to the firm's April 2026 announcement of its Korea restructuring launch.

 

The firm's reputation was built on the Lehman Brothers wind-down, where Bryan Marsal served as chief restructuring officer. That heritage still shapes the work, and the firm's culture rewards people who are comfortable running a company rather than advising one. Candidates who like clean analytical deliverables sometimes struggle here, since the job often means sitting in the client's chair.

 

A&M also runs a large transaction advisory business, with more than 1,300 professionals across 45 offices as of mid-2026. That matters for recruiting, because many candidates who target the restructuring group end up interviewing for transaction advisory instead. The Alvarez & Marsal case interview differs meaningfully between the two groups.

 

AlixPartners

 

AlixPartners is the most selective of the three and the highest paying. Jay Alix founded the firm in 1981, and it has advised on some of the largest Chapter 11 reorganizations in US history, including General Motors, Kmart, and Enron. Headcount reached roughly 3,900 as of December 2025 across more than 20 offices.

 

Smaller headcount means smaller teams and more direct partner exposure. It also means a harder process. In my experience coaching candidates through these interviews, the AlixPartners case interview punishes candidates who can build a framework but cannot tell you what happens to the balance sheet when inventory is written down.

 

The firm markets itself around urgency, and that is not just positioning. Expect short engagements, high intensity, and a bias toward people who have already run something.

 

FTI Consulting

 

FTI Consulting is the only pure-play restructuring leader with public financials, which makes it the most transparent firm in the market. FTI reported full-year 2025 revenues of $3.789 billion, with the Corporate Finance segment contributing 41% of the total, or roughly $1.55 billion. The firm employed 8,118 people at year end, including 6,421 billable professionals.

 

FTI renamed its Corporate Finance & Restructuring segment to simply Corporate Finance effective December 31, 2025, which reflects how much transaction and transformation work now sits alongside pure distress. Segment revenue in the fourth quarter alone rose 26.1% to $423.2 million.

 

FTI is also the most accessible of the three for candidates without a finance pedigree, partly because it recruits across five segments rather than one. Preparation for the FTI Consulting interview has to start with picking the right practice, since you apply to a specific segment rather than as a generalist.

 

Which Mid-Sized Restructuring Firms Are Worth Targeting?

 

The Tier 2 firms are worth targeting when you want restructuring exposure alongside disputes, forensics, or valuation work. They run smaller teams, hire more opportunistically, and are far easier to reach through networking than the top three.

 

• Ankura: founded in 2014 and now more than 2,000 professionals with projects in over 115 countries, built through aggressive lateral hiring and acquisitions

 

• Berkeley Research Group: strongest where restructuring overlaps with expert testimony and forensic accounting, which makes the Berkeley Research Group interview more technical than most

 

• Huron: Nasdaq-listed with $1.70 billion in 2025 revenue, up about 12% year over year, and unusually strong in healthcare and higher education distress

 

• Teneo: combines restructuring with strategic communications and CEO advisory, a genuinely different pitch from everyone else on this list

 

• Kroll: known for valuation and creditor-side advisory, with deep bench strength in complex cross-border cases

 

• Riveron: focused on the office of the CFO, accounting advisory, and middle-market transactions rather than mega-cases

 

Below these sit the true specialists. M3 Partners, SierraConstellation Partners, Accordion, and Paladin Management run lean teams on sponsor-backed and middle-market situations, and they hire almost entirely through referrals. If you are open to boutique consulting firms, these give you outsized responsibility early.

 

Huron deserves a specific note. The firm posted a fifth consecutive year of revenue growth in 2025, and the Huron case interview leans heavily on healthcare economics rather than generic profitability structures.

 

The same is true at Teneo, where interviews often probe stakeholder judgment and reputational risk. Preparing for the Teneo case interview with a standard strategy casebook leaves gaps.

 

Do McKinsey, BCG, and the Big 4 Do Restructuring Work?

 

Yes, and the distinction matters for your application strategy. Strategy firms and Big 4 firms do restructuring work, but they approach it as a practice inside a much larger business rather than as the core of the firm.

 

McKinsey runs the most established strategy-side practice. Recovery and Transformation Services was established in 2010 and includes more than 60 former CEOs, CFOs, and COOs of public companies, and it will place interim C-level managers into distressed clients. The catch for students is that McKinsey RTS hires at the engagement manager equivalent and above rather than out of undergraduate or MBA programs.

 

BCG runs TURN, its turnaround and transformation practice, on a similar model. Generalist consultants at both firms can get staffed on restructuring cases by telling their staffer they want that work, which is the realistic route in for a new joiner.

 

The Big 4 approach is different again. Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC all run large turnaround and restructuring groups that lean toward financial advisory, bankruptcy accounting, and creditor services. EY-Parthenon's Turnaround and Restructuring Strategy group is the most strategy-flavored of the four and the most competitive to enter.

 

Grant Thornton, BDO, and RSM round out the accounting-led group. These firms are underrated entry points, since they hire steadily and the work transfers cleanly to a pure-play firm after two or three years.

 

How Much Do Restructuring Consultants Get Paid?

 

Restructuring consultants at the top firms earn a median total compensation package between $118,000 and $250,000 depending on the firm and level, with senior director packages reaching $440,000. Pay is competitive with MBB at entry level and pulls ahead at the mid-career mark, largely because utilization runs high during distressed cycles.

 

Firm	Consultant base (avg)	Median total comp	Top reported package
AlixPartners	~$127,300	$250,000	$440,000
Alvarez & Marsal	~$127,000	$200,000	$390,000
FTI Consulting	Not reported	$118,300	$369,500

 

Base salary figures come from Glassdoor data as of August 2026 for AlixPartners and March 2026 for Alvarez & Marsal. Median and top total compensation figures come from Levels.fyi data updated between May and August 2026. The FTI median covers all roles rather than consultants alone, which pulls the number down.

 

Two things drive the spread. AlixPartners runs smaller teams and bills at higher rates, and its New York median total package reached $254,000 in August 2026 data. Firms with large accounting-led practices sit lower, because the pay bands follow the audit and advisory market rather than the strategy market.

 

Bonuses in restructuring are also less predictable than at MBB. A busy default cycle can push a mid-level consultant's bonus well above target, and a quiet year does the opposite.

 

Which Restructuring Firms Hire Undergraduates?

 

Most restructuring firms hire undergraduates into analyst roles, but the strategy-side practices do not. This single fact reshapes a target list more than anything else on this page, and most candidates discover it far too late.

 

Firm or practice	Undergrad entry	Typical entry point
Alvarez & Marsal	Yes	Analyst or associate, often through summer internship
AlixPartners	Yes	Consultant, with a small and highly selective analyst class
FTI Consulting	Yes	Consultant within a named segment, plus a formal internship
Big 4 and mid-market	Yes	Associate in turnaround, restructuring, or deal advisory
McKinsey RTS	No	Engagement manager equivalent, from industry or specialist firms

 

If your goal is restructuring work at a strategy firm, the route is to join as a generalist and ask to be staffed on turnarounds. That is a two to three year detour, and it is worth it only if you want the strategy brand as much as the restructuring skill set.

 

How Do You Get Into a Top Restructuring Consulting Firm?

 

Getting into a top restructuring firm takes a different preparation plan than standard consulting recruiting, because the interviews test technical fluency alongside structure. Here is the sequence that works.

 

1. Pick your lane early: decide whether you want operational turnaround, financial restructuring, or transaction advisory, because firms staff and interview by group
   
   
2. Build the accounting base: you need to move between the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement without hesitating, since every distressed conversation runs through cash
   
   
3. Learn the 13-week cash flow model: this short-term liquidity forecast is the single most used tool in the field and comes up constantly in interviews
   
   
4. Network into specific practices: these firms hire opportunistically, so a warm introduction to a senior director matters more than it does in on-campus recruiting
   
   
5. Practice distressed cases specifically: sequencing matters enormously, and candidates who cut costs before stabilizing liquidity fail
   
   
6. Prepare a sharp motivation story: every interviewer asks why distressed work appeals to you, and generic answers about problem solving do not survive follow-up questions

 

The fifth step is where most candidates lose the offer. A restructuring case interview punishes the exact instincts that a profitability case rewards, since the wrong order of actions accelerates a company's decline instead of fixing it.

 

Case interviews are the deciding factor at every firm on this list. If you want to learn case interviews quickly, my case interview course walks you through proven strategies in as little as 7 days.

 

Timing also differs from the traditional cycle. Pure-play firms post roles year round rather than running a single fall push, so the standard consulting recruiting timeline is a rough guide at best here.

 

Which Restructuring Consulting Firm Is Right for You?

 

The right firm depends on what you want out of the first three years. Use these matches as a starting point.

 

• Best for operational turnaround work: Alvarez & Marsal, where interim management roles are core to the model

 

• Best for pay and small teams: AlixPartners, with the highest reported median packages of the three leaders

 

• Best for breadth and internal mobility: FTI Consulting, which lets you move across five segments over a career

 

• Best for healthcare or education distress: Huron, which has built its business around those two sectors

 

• Best for a strategy brand plus turnaround work: McKinsey or BCG, accepting that you join as a generalist first

 

• Best for early responsibility: M3 Partners, SierraConstellation Partners, or another specialist boutique

 

Sector focus is the most underused filter here. Distress concentrates in particular industries, and S&P Global Market Intelligence recorded 117 industrial and 96 consumer discretionary filings among large US companies in 2025, so firms strong in those sectors had the busiest year.

 

If you are still deciding between practice areas rather than firms, comparing top consulting firms by industry is a faster way to narrow things than reading firm websites.

 

What Exit Opportunities Do Restructuring Consultants Have?

 

Restructuring consultants exit into distressed private equity, credit and special situations funds, restructuring investment banking, and corporate roles such as chief restructuring officer or head of transformation. The skill set travels better than most people expect, because liquidity modeling and creditor negotiation are rare and portable.

 

Distressed private equity and special situations credit are the most common buy-side moves. Candidates who spend two to three years building 13-week models and running debt restructurings arrive with skills a growth-focused consultant simply does not have.

 

Moves into restructuring investment banking happen, though usually at the senior analyst level rather than as a direct associate hire. An MBA in between makes the jump considerably cleaner.

 

The path that gets overlooked is staying. Many senior restructuring professionals never leave, because the pay scales well, the work stays interesting, and demand is counter-cyclical rather than tied to a single sector. Compared with the usual consulting exit opportunities, restructuring produces more people who build a full career at one firm.

 

The demand backdrop supports that. S&P Global Market Intelligence counted 785 large US corporate bankruptcy filings in 2025, the third consecutive annual increase and the highest total since 828 filings in 2010.

 

Choosing among the top restructuring consulting firms comes down to matching the firm's model to the career you want, not chasing the biggest brand on the list. Pick two or three targets, build genuine accounting and liquidity fluency, and practice distressed cases until the sequencing feels automatic.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Which restructuring consulting firm pays the most?

 

AlixPartners pays the most of the three market leaders. Levels.fyi data updated in May 2026 puts the median total compensation for an AlixPartners management consultant in the United States at $250,000, compared with $200,000 at Alvarez & Marsal in July 2026 data. Pay rises sharply with seniority at all three firms, and reported AlixPartners director packages reach $440,000.

 

Is restructuring consulting better than restructuring investment banking?

 

Neither is better. Restructuring consulting gives you operational control, milder hours, and interim management experience, while restructuring investment banking pays more in the first five years and sits closer to the capital structure. Choose consulting if you want to run the turnaround and banking if you want to negotiate the debt.

 

Can you get into restructuring consulting straight out of undergrad?

 

Yes, at the pure-play firms. Alvarez & Marsal, AlixPartners, FTI Consulting, Ankura, and most mid-sized firms run analyst and internship programs open to undergraduates. McKinsey RTS is the main exception, since it hires almost entirely at the engagement manager equivalent level and above.

 

Do restructuring consultants need a CPA or CFA?

 

No, neither is required at the analyst or consultant level. A CPA helps most at firms with heavy bankruptcy accounting and forensic work, and the CIRA credential from the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors carries real weight for career restructuring professionals. Financial modeling skill matters far more than any certification when you are breaking in.

 

Is restructuring consulting recession proof?

 

It is counter-cyclical rather than recession proof. Demand rises when defaults rise, which is why S&P Global Market Intelligence recorded 785 large US corporate bankruptcy filings in 2025, the highest total since 2010. Firms still hire in good years, because performance improvement and transaction work fills the gap when distress volumes fall.

 

How hard is it to get an offer at Alvarez & Marsal or AlixPartners?

 

Both are difficult, though for a different reason than MBB. The bar is technical rather than purely conceptual, so candidates fail on liquidity math, three-statement fluency, and cash flow judgment rather than on structure. Candidates from accounting, audit, transaction services, and credit backgrounds have a real advantage in these processes.

 

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