Flood of IPOs brings sackful of bonuses to I-Bankers’ accounts
capital markets saved the day for Indian investment bankers as they took home hefty bonuses and payouts despite a relatively soft M&A business, company officials and industry sources said, pointing to the IPO frenzy as equity indices surged to records. Bonuses were 150-200% high for top performers in some of the top-rung local I-banks such as Kotak, JM Financial, Axis Capital, Avendus and Veda, among others, sources told ET.
A string of IPOs and other capital market offerings helped deal-makers earn an average 10% increase, while a few top performers took home 20-25% more, as companies tried to retain top talent, said industry officials. On the lower end, average bonuses were in 80-100% range, according to estimates.
«Full-service platforms, which encompass advisory and capital markets, have experienced robust performance in the past couple of months with strong capital markets activity. This has translated into significantly higher bonuses for platforms heavily invested in capital markets,» said Ruchi Thakkar, director, capital markets, at Native. Average total compensation for MDs at domestic investment banks ranges between ₹3 crore and ₹6 crore, while for top global platforms, it is about ₹4.5-9 crore, estimates by Native showed.
Total compensation mostly includes a fixed pay and bonus. In a few cases, such packages may also include stocks and restricted stock units, or RSUs, which in most international banks would vest over three or four years.
Bonuses for investment bankers are usually 40-50% of the total
