After Pandemic Highs, Annual Profits in 2022 and 2023 Still Modestly Above Pre-Pandemic Average
Wall Street’s $23.2 billion in pretax profits for the first half of 2024 were a dramatic 79.3% increase over the same period last year and buoyed by securities trading, underwriting, and selling. Annual profits are currently on track to close out the year much stronger than 2023, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s annual report examining the performance of New York City’s securities industry.
“After record years during the pandemic, Wall Street’s profits were more in line with pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and 2023,” DiNapoli said. “This year has been very strong so far and profits may continue their upward trajectory, to exceed 2023 levels and boost state and city tax revenues. Still, there are many international and domestic uncertainties that pose risks to the industry in the final months of 2024 that my office will be monitoring closely.”
Securities industry performance is traditionally measured by the pretax profits of the broker/dealer operations of New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) member firms. There are now 131 member firms, down from more than 200 in 2007 before the global financial crisis.
Profits
Driven by federal stimulus and low interest rates, annual profits for the city’s securities industry soared to record highs during the pandemic — $50.9 billion in 2020 and $58.4 billion in 2021 — before returning to more typical levels in 2022 ($25.8 billion) and 2023 ($26.3 billion). These totals were slightly higher than the $22.3 billion pre-pandemic average from 2015-2019. In 2023, firms’ profits were spurred by interest income on transactions, due to federal fund rate increases. The gains were offset, however, by increased expenses, also due to higher interest rates.
For the first half of 2024, most revenue lines were up over 2023’s first half, including supervisory fees (up $5.6 billion), securities trading (up $5.2 billion), and underwriting (up $4.2 billion). Expenses were up as well due to higher compensation (up $4.5 billion) and other costs, but revenue overshadowed those increases for net growth of 17.4% and first half profits of $23.2 billion. If the current pace of growth is maintained, Wall Street’s profits could reach $47.1 billion by the end of 2024, DiNapoli’s report estimates.
Employment, Bonuses and Salaries
There were 214,900 jobs in the securities industry across New York state in 2023, up 15,600 positions from the 2019 pre-pandemic total. New York City is home to 198,500 (89%) of the securities jobs in the state, the most since 2000.
In recent years, employment has lagged changes in profits, with jobs actually declining 1.7% over the industry’s period of soaring profits from 2019 to 2021. The lion’s share of the job growth since 2019 came in 2022 when firms added 11,300 positions (6.3%).
New York continues to be the nation’s financial capital with more than twice as many securities industry jobs as its closest competitor California (102,100) in 2023. However, it has been losing jobs to other states for decades. New York was home to one-third of the nation’s industry employees in 1990, but in 2024 it only accounts for 17.4%.
Although industry employment in New York grew by 7.8% from 2019 through 2023, it has grown faster elsewhere in places like Texas (26.6% increase, 19,400 jobs added). Utah had the highest growth rate of any state at 40.5% (3,000 jobs added).
The average salary for employees of New York City’s securities industry was $471,370 in 2023, the third highest on record, but down 5.2% from 2022 and down 8.7% when adjusted for inflation. Salary declines were largely due to smaller bonuses ($176,500 on average) as profits settled down from their pandemic highs. This is the highest average salary of any sector in the city and nearly five times higher than the average salary ($98,700) paid in the rest of the private sector.
Industry firms increased their compensation costs by 9.8% in the first half of 2024 and it is likely that the overall bonus pool, which made up 37% of industry wages last year, will increase as well. DiNapoli will release his 2024 average bonus estimate in March 2025.
The city received $5.1 billion in city fiscal year 2024, 70% from personal income taxes, which accounted for 22.8% of the city’s total personal income tax collections. The industry comprised 7% of the city’s total tax collections. The city budget assumes tax collection growth and a 7.4% increase in the industry bonus pool. If stronger than anticipated profits hold up, tax revenue collected by the city and state in the current fiscal year may be higher than current projections.
In 2022 (the most recent county level data available), DiNapoli’s report estimates the industry contributed 18.6% of the city’s gross product. The industry accounted for 6.1% of the state’s gross product in 2023.
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