Top deal makers in Hong Kong's investment banking sector rode a flood of capital raisings last year to earn bonuses of up to 10 times their annual salaries, according to insiders.
'Bonuses were better than [the previous] year because of greater economic activity and deal flow. Bonuses were generally quite good and most people are happier than last year,' said Alfred Chown, principal at headhunting firm E.L Consult.
Bankers and headhunters said investment banks paid 20 to 30 per cent more in bonuses on average, though the best-rewarded deal makers in the industry received bonus cheques of up to 10 times their annual salaries.
Major investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers have all informed staff about their bonuses, wrapping up a year in which a flood of capital raising and corporate mergers and acquisitions generated higher commission and fee incomes and translated into fat bonus cheques for leading deal makers.
According to data from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, about $210 billion was raised from the market last year, nearly 90 per cent higher than in 2003 and marking the largest volume of funds raised from the market since the dotcom bubble in 2000.
Some bankers said they were happy with their bonuses, though the average industry payout failed to meet the four to five-year salary cheques distributed as bonuses in 2000.
The fattest bonus cheques were earned by senior China bankers and equity derivatives and commodities traders, who typically earned annual bonuses equivalent to seven to eight times their annual salaries.