Pictographic evidence that M&A bankers will receive poor bonuses

Given that M&A is at a 40 year low, it would be churlish to assume that M&A bankers might be well rewarded this year.

Alan Johnson, the Wall Street compensation guru, has already decided as much: in his recent analysis of advisory bankers' 2009 bonus prospects he forecast a 10-15% decline.

This may be optimistic. As the graph below from the Wall Street Journal reveals, advisory revenues at most banks are less than half their levels of 2008.

The worst hit will be investment bankers at BofA Merrill Lynch, who have been leaving in droves in possible anticipation of the size of this year's payouts.

Source: Wall Street Journal