The best and worst investment banks to work for in ECM during the current IPO slump

Equity capital markets (ECM) divisions of banks had an abysmal first quarter this year, and it’s investment bankers in the Americas who are suffering the most.

Banks have generated $1.3bn of global IPO revenue so far in 2016, a 58% decline compared to $3.0bn generated in 2015 year-to-date and the lowest level around midyear since 2009, according to Dealogic, which partially attributes the drop can be to high stock market volatility at the beginning of the year. Although market conditions began to improve in the spring, there has been little change in terms of revenue recovery, with Dealogic reporting a 60% year-on-year drop so far in the second quarter.

J.P. Morgan is leading the way

Despite the overall decline, some banks are doing better than others. J.P. Morgan leads the global IPO revenue ranking in 2016 YTD with a 7.5% wallet share, surging from a sixth-place year-to-date ranking at this time last year. Morgan Stanley (6.4%) holds firm in second place. Goldman Sachs has dropped from first last year, to third in the rankings in 2016.

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