Wall Street bonuses could plummet as much as 40 percent this year

[Kamaji]

Wall Street bonuses could plummet as much as 40 percent this year

By Lydia Moynihan
May 5, 2022

Last year was an unprecedented bonanza for Wall Street bankers — and it was fun while it lasted.

Bonuses for bankers at big financial firms — which hit record highs in 2021 amid a rash of big deals and a dire talent shortage on Wall Street — are expected to drop as much as 40% in 2022 as bank profits plummet, according to new data from compensation consulting firm Johnson Associates.

Investment banking underwriters — who got the biggest bump in 2021 with bonuses surging 35% amid a jump in mergers and acquisitions — will see the biggest drop this year as dealmaking slows. Johnson associates projects bank underwriters will see bonuses slump 35% to 40% — essentially taking bonuses to 2020 levels.

Bonuses at hedge fund and large private equity firms are expected to stay largely flat as investors look to these alternative investments amid challenging market conditions. Asset management professionals, and those working with ultra higher net worth individuals, will see a decline of around 10% to 15%.

“Deals and IPOs are cyclical — we were expecting a hangover for 2022 but it’s worse than imagined,” Alan Johnson of Johnson Associates told The Post. “That’s brought deal making to a stop — and on top of that there’s a good chance we’re going into a recession.”

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2022/05/05/wall-street-bonuses-could-plummet-as-much-as-40-percent-this-year/