Singapore investment banking fees down 24.8% to $234.26m in Q1

Advisory fees from M&As plunged 63.6% even as deal numbers rose.

Singapore investment banking fees crashed 24.8% YoY to S$234.26m (US$172.8m) in Q1, according to data from Refinitiv.

Investment bankers from Morgan Stanley earned the most fees in Q1 after taking home $29.42m (US$21.7m) or a 12.5% share of the total fee pool. DBS came in at second place with an $25.08m (US$18.5m) fee haul and 10.7% market share whilst Goldman Sachs rounded out the top three with an $24.40m (US$18m) haul and 10.4% market share.

Advisory fees for completed M&A plunged 63.6% YoY to $61.29m (US$45.2m) from a strong $168.13m (US$124m) in the previous year. This comes even as deal numbers rose with overall announced M&A activity in Singapore hitting $32.81b (US$24.2b) to mark the strongest start since 2014 when proceeds hit $41.79b (US$30.8b).

Underwriting fees for the equity capital markets skyrocketed 279.1% YoY to a six-year high of $82.44m (US$60.8m), whilst fees from DCM underwriting rose 14.9% to $70.37m (US$51.9m).

On the M&A front, JP Morgan emerged as the top financial advisor with a 33% market share and $10.71b (US$7.9b) in deal value. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs share the top spot in the ECM underwriting rankings with 34.2% market share each. DBS leads the SIngapore bonds underwriting with $2.44b (US$1.8b) in related proceeds and capturing 24.4% market share.