Indian investment bankers earn $1.3 billion in fees, highest since 2000

Investment bankers earned $1.3 billion in fees during 2023, a 28 per cent increase compared to the previous year, said a note by LSEG Deals Intelligence. This year's investment banker fee is the highest since LSEG Deals's records began in 2000.

The equity capital market (ECM) underwriting fees reached $343.5 million, a 68 per cent rise from a year ago. ECM fee includes the fee from IPOs and follow-on offers. However, the merger and acquisition (M&A) fee fell 7 per cent and totalled $416.1 million. The M&A activity fell to a three-year low and stood at $83.8 billion in 2023, a 50.6 per cent decline from a year ago.

State Bank of India took the top spot for overall investment banking fees with a total of $102.7 million, accounting for 7.7 per cent of India's investment banking fee pool. IIFL Holdings emerged as the topper in ECM underwriting with a $3.7 billion and a 12.0 per cent market share.