JPMorgan made more money, paid people more, didn’t hire that much
JPMorgan’s Q3 results are out, and things seem to be looking good in the Commercial and Investment Bank (CIB). The bank, however, isn’t really acting like it.
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On paper, investment banking did very well. Advisory revenue was up 10% in the third quarter compared to the same period last year. Revenues were up 26% in Equity and 56% in Debt Capital markets (ECM and DCM, respectively). Pay in the CIB went from $45k per head in the third quarter of 2023 to $48k this year.
Things look even more impressive on a nine-month basis. Pay was up 7.1%, from $141k per head to $151k, and the bank is on track to pay over $200k per head in the CIB by the end of the year.
In capital markets, the change was even more drastic, with ECM up 44% in the first nine months of this year compared to 2023, and DCM up 55%. That’s significantly more than the 8% than M&A revenue grew in the same period of time.
Hiring, however, ground nearly to a halt. JPMorgan had 92,181 heads in the CIB this time last year; now, the number is just 93,754. That’s a growth of less than 2%, including both the fall in Q1 of this year and the surge in Q2, which better matched the CIB’s general performance.
It’s not unprecedented, however. Jefferies had limited recruitment too, despite an even more dramatic growth in M&A revenue: up 77% in the third quarter compared to last year.
Sales & trading had mixed results at JPMorgan; while equities revenues were up 27% on last quarter, FICC revenues were flat.
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