There seems to be more democratisation in terms of sharing the revenue pie of the investment banking business this year. According to the 2016 league table, each of the top 10 investment banks has worked on four-five initial public offerings and earned similar fees. This is in sharp contrast to 2015, when the top three bankers had handled as much as 80 per cent of the deals and cornered most of the fee pool. This comes as a relief to bankers, as the sector has been going through a difficult phase in the past few years due to the lull in capital markets. In the first nine months of this calendar year, 107 deals worth $7.1 billion were executed by various bankers.
Big corporate stumps MF sector
A Delhi-based company seems to have stumped the mutual fund sector with its demand. The company, which has a cash balance of over Rs 1,000 crore, has asked fund houses to pay it 10-20 basis points (bps) to invest in the asset management company’s liquid funds. Liquid funds usually charge 10 bps to 50 bps from investors. What has surprised fund houses even more is that some leading players are even considering paying the company to increase their asset base. “There are several other companies which keep more amounts with the fund industry. But, they do not take such a position. If fund houses agree to such deals, things could get really bad in the future,” says the chief executive officer of a fund house.