Investment banking fees and jobs may be reviving, but not everywhere
If you're an investment banker who's been waiting for deals and hiring to revive so that you can find a new job, your time may soon come. Figures from Dealogic indicate that the first quarter of 2024 wasn't bad, but the recovery is geographically patchy and sector specific.
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If banking hiring revives, it seems the revival will come to the Americas first
Based on year-on-year fees in Q1, if banking jobs come back, they will do so in the Americas first of all. If more banking jobs are cut, the cuts will come to Asia more than anywhere else.
New Financial Institutions Group (FIG) bankers may not be needed. New healthcare and chemicals bankers may be preferred
In M&A specifically, Dealogic says some sector teams had a better quarter than others. At the senior end, a bad quarter can encourage hiring as banks add new rainmakers to generate deals. At the junior end, however, it discourages hiring as there's less need for people to execute deals.
Bank of America might overcome its hiring freeze, in Europe at least
Bank of America's M&A bankers appear to have had some big wins in Europe in the first quarter. Dealogic says their league table rankings have soared. In Germany, BofA went from 50th in Q1 '23 for M&A deals; in the UK it went from 10th to 3rd; in Spain it went from 10th to 4th and in Italy it went from 32nd to 1st.
Bank of America has been wary about adding new costs while its existing staff won't leave. The recent quarter might change its collective mind.
Leveraged loans are back baby, and so is hiring — sort of
There's been a resurgence inleveraged loan activity after last year's leveraged finance nadir. As the charts below (from Dealogic) show, the first
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