Investment bankers' equity market fee pool rises to 21% at $321 mn in 2018

Equity market fee up 21% even as issuances fall 44% this year

Investment bankers have taken home more money this year than they did in 2017, a record-breaking year for equity issuances. According to the Thomson Reuters data, the so-called equity capital market (ECM) fee pool has risen 21 per cent year-on-year to $321 million in 2018, despite equity issuances dropping 44 per cent to $15.8 billion from $28.3 billion last year. Industry players said deals this year were more lucrative compared to last year, which was dominated by big-ticket issuances from the government sector, where fees are near zero.

The biggest equity issuance of 2018 was the $3.5-billion fundraising by HDFC