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Mumbai: Top investment bankers are likely licking their chops at the prospect of lucrative bonuses, after 2025 delivered record fees on the back of buoyant equity capital markets (ECM) and hectic private-market dealmaking.Data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) shows that investment banking fees for 2025 totalled $1.5 billion, of which $651.8 million came from equity deals, $391.3 million from M&A deals, $232.5 million from bond deals, and $227 million from loan syndications.Comparatively, investment banking fees in the previous two years were $1.36 billion (in 2024) and $1.33 billion (2023). In 2024, bonus payouts to investment bankers were an estimated ₹1,000 crore, according to industry experts and headhunters.The bonuses for 2025 deals are expected to be higher.

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected] India stands at a pivotal moment in its journey toward universal health coverage (UHC).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. “Passion doesn’t have to look like ‘rah, rah!’" Bristol-Myers Squibb employees were giving managers pointers on how to tell whether their introverted staffers are excited about their work. After all, it can be hard to tell.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mutual funds, whose plans to launch specialized investment funds (SIFs) are progressing slowly due to a shortage of skilled managers, are hiring expertise for running long-short strategies from alternative investment funds (AIFs), showed a Mint analysis. Suraj Nanda, the fund manager for equity and hybrid SIF at Tata Mutual Fund, was earlier running a long-short AIF at ICICI Prudential AMC.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) on Thursday allowed the National Pension System (NPS) to include gold and silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs) among its investment options. NPS subscribers can now invest in gold and silver ETFs offered by mutual funds, with exposure restricted to 5% of the scheme’s assets under management (AUM).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Smita and Ravi, a married couple in their late 30s, are steadily climbing the corporate ladder. Their investment portfolio has grown to over ₹4 crore, and for some time now, their wealth adviser has been making the case for investing in an alternative investment fund (AIF).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Dream11, the fantasy gaming giant with 250 million users, is rewriting its playbook. It now looks to recast itself as a sports entertainment platform, betting on India’s rising ‘watch-party’ culture, where fans stream matches, interact and hang out online.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Top solar power producers in Rajasthan have dialled down production, after a congested grid prompted the regional regulator to step in. According to three people aware of the matter, Adani Group, NTPC Green, KKR-backed Serentica, EQT-backed Zelestra and JSW Group have had to curtail peak-hour production totalling 5GW in the second half of November alone, leading to potential losses and highlighting the slow pace of transmission capacity addition in the face of frenetic solar power growth.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Farhina Ahmed, 23, looks forward to October each year, when she meets Julia, her friend from Spain. They first met in 2022, striking up a conversation by the pool of their Jaipur hotel.

Bikaner House on a late spring evening, The Quiet Interlude came into its own. Reflective canvases beckoned, time expanded and contracted, and the solitary viewer got drawn into the Yantra and Tantra, the yin and yang, and the madhya point of stillness so central to Trishla Jain’s artistic endeavour.

Bikaner House on a late spring evening, ‘The Quiet Interlude’ came into its own. Reflective canvases beckoned, time expanded and contracted, and the solitary viewer got drawn into the Yantra and Tantra, the yin and yang, and the madhya point of stillness so central to Trishla Jain’s artistic endeavour. ORDER IN CHAOS Jain’s initial works were colourful expressions of playful whimsy, but her latest canvases reveal a confident maturity, a meditative metamorphosis — a conscious progression to seeking deeper meanings. Which is why the period of calm, the emptiness before the formal opening of Jain’s exhibition was so central to understanding the language of her compositions, from the comforting structured grid patterns of Yantra to the unbound, infinitive universe of Tantra.

ghost job openings"—positions advertised by companies with no real intention to hire. And now, thanks to one insider’s chat with HR, we may finally understand why.

Startup Mahakumbh 2025, an event being organised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), is hosting a series of competitions to promote innovation in in fields such as cybersecurity, AI, robotics, biotech, and more. The prize pool for the competiton, will be Rs 70 crore according to Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal on Thursday. Goyal described the Startup MahaRathi Challenge as India’s largest private-funded challenge. Goyal took to X to praise the initiative and said, “Rs 70 crore challenge money to encourage new startups!”

HDFC Bank, India's biggest private lender by assets, said on Thursday its growth in deposits outpaced that of loans in the three months to March 31, compared with the preceding quarter. Deposits rose 5.9% to 27.15 trillion rupees ($318.5 billion), the Mumbai-based bank said, higher than the 2.5% rise in the October-December quarter. Its low-cost current and savings account deposits rose 8.2%.

Grand National Festival, one of Britain’s biggest horse racing events, is scheduled to begin on Thursday, April 3 and will run until Saturday, April 5. The event will feature high-stake races and top-tier competitors. The festival promises a thrilling spectacle for racing enthusiasts. Apart from the action on the track, ITV7 is offering a massive jackpot prize pool of £200,000 across the three days. As per reports, racing fans can enter the Jackpot contest for free via the ITV7 app or website. All the people must do is pick seven horses each day for a chance to win the prize.

LinkedIn data reveals that by 2030, 70% of the skills used in most jobs will change. For organizations, navigating this transformation means embracing skills-based hiring practices to build a workforce equipped for the future — which could expand global talent pools by 6.1x globally. For professionals, it’s about staying ahead of the curve, whether that’s learning new, in-demand skills or deepening existing areas of expertise. And many are already taking action: a quarter of professionals say they plan to focus on learning new skills this year. 1. AI Literacy Why it’s on the rise: As AI rapidly transforms industries, companies are increasingly looking for professionals with the ability to understand and utilize tools harnessing that technology for business purposes. Most common job titles: Software Engineer, Product Manager, Chief Executive Officer Most common industries: Technology and Internet, Higher Education, IT Services and IT Consulting

Mayuresh Joshi, Head Equity, Marketsmith India, says Trump’s announcements are on everybody's mind, but if this lingers on with the absolute stance that president Trump has reiterated and that continues in a rhetorical fashion for the next few weeks without any negotiations on the table across a lot of different economies, we are going to see a lot more volatility in the equity markets. Joshi says Trump will bring a lot of countries on the negotiating table over the next few weeks and a few sectors like pharmaceuticals might not get the brunt as the markets are fearing. So, pharma, which has got beaten down as far as US exports are concerned, might have a respite in terms of Indian exports and should show a smart bounce. What is the overriding thought in the Indian markets right now about Liberation Day and what could really be brought in the worst fears that market men are contending with right now? Mayuresh Joshi: Two things, there is huge uncertainty of what will come through and therefore how the rhetoric in terms of the Trump tariff plan gets implemented, which sectors are probably going to get affected, and how are countries going to get taxed is going to be the foremost important facet that the markets will probably look at.

7.3 magnitude earthquake rocked the Thai capital Friday, causing buildings to sway. Germany’s GFZ center for geosciences said the midday temblor was a shallow 10 kilometers, with an epicenter in neighboring Myanmar, according to temporary reports. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The greater Bangkok area is home to more than 17 million people, many of whom live in high-rise apartments. Many buildings were evacuated as they swayed in the rare quake.

Jennifer Lopez started afresh with her new residence after her divorce from Ben Affleck. Lopez, aged 55, made a major purchase of a $18 million Los Angeles property to live with her 17-year-old twins, Max and Emme. The house purchase takes place after Lopez and Affleck finalized their divorce in a respectful manner.

Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). Effective investment advice and handholding can play a significant role in shaping investment behavior, and it is likely that the growing pool of knowledgeable and experienced distributors has contributed to the increasing trend of long-term investing among women, the study highlighted. Also Read | NFO Insight: This EV ETF from ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund is now open for subscription. Will it electrify your portfolio?

Express Entry candidates will no longer receive extra Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points for having a valid job offer, including offers supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). The change took place in the Ministerial Instructions effective March 25, 2025, as per a CIC News report. Before this change, Express Entry candidates with arranged employment could earn an extra 50 or 200 CRS points, significantly increasing their chances of receiving an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residence (PR). This change now impacts the CRS scores of all candidates in the Express Entry pool who had previously benefited from additional points for arranged employment. ALSO READ: Canada to send invitations to apply for Parents and Grandparents PR pathway in 2025 Candidates who have already received ITAs or who have PR applications in progress are not affected. In a press release on December 23, 2024, Canada stated that the removal of additional points is a temporary measure, but did not say when the measure would conclude.