Morgan Stanley lifts Asia bonuses 20% after record revenue haul

[HONG KONG] Morgan Stanley increased bonuses by about 20 per cent for bankers in Asia after the firm closed in on a record US$10 billion in revenue from the region last year, people familiar with the matter said.

Revenue jumped on outsized gains in equity trading, prime brokerage and wealth management, the people said. The investment banking and capital markets divisions also regained momentum, with fees from stock sales and mergers approaching US$1 billion, the most in years, they added, asking not to be identified because the numbers are confidential.

A media representative for Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong declined to comment.

The Asia record has set traders and bankers up for a robust bonus season. Overall, investment bankers got a 15-to-20 per cent bump for the past year while traders and product specialists in the institutional equity division got more, with top performers seeing increases of at least 30 per cent, the people said.

High-performing managing directors across country banking and booming sectors such as technology are expected to receive total compensation including bonuses of US$2 million to US$2.5 million, the people said. Average compensation of US$1 million to US$1.5 million represents a sharp contrast to 2024, the people said, after about a fifth of managing directors received no bonuses that year.

Morgan Stanley reported US$7.64 billion in revenue from Asia in 2024, accounting for about 12 per cent of the New York bank’s global total. That topped arch-rival Goldman Sachs Group for the third year in a row.

Morgan Stanley’s Asia head Gokul Laroia told Bloomberg in a rare interview last year that he was eyeing US$10 billion in revenue within five years. Trading momentum in the final quarter helped the firm near its goal much sooner than that.

Morgan Stanley’s Asia revenue, which includes Japan and Australia, rose 29 per cent to US$7.27 billion for the nine months ended in September.

The boon echoed a global revenue surge, with stock traders beating expectations as US President Donald Trump’s policies kept markets on edge. The bank is slated to announce its 2025 earnings on Thursday, joining several Wall Street firms releasing results this week.

Despite a record year in Asia, Morgan Stanley cautioned against raising bonuses too sharply, aiming to smooth compensation. Factors such as share-price gains and a large junior workforce tempered growth in the overall bonus pool, another person said.

Some 26 bankers in Asia were promoted to managing directors, spanning equity, investment banking and fixed-income divisions, the people said. BLOOMBERG