For most of the world, Christmas ends in the dead of winter. On Wall Street, it stretches into the spring, thanks to tens of billions of dollars in annual bonuses typically paid between January and April.
This year, despite continuing turmoil in the private credit market, the payouts have been even more generous than usual, jumping 9% to a record $49.2 billion, according to an estimate from New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli published in late March. The average bonus climbed 6% to $246,900 as volatility triggered by tariff shocks translated into rising markets, creating ideal trading conditions for trading desks, dealmakers and wealth managers.
“It was probably the best year since the financial crisis,” Alan Johnson, founder of Johnson Associates, told The Daily Upside. “Pay was up a fair bit for almost everybody.”…