Is FIG countercyclical?

I interned over the summer in a FIG coverage group at a BB and people mentioned how FIG is both cyclical and countercyclical - busy in good times and very busy in tough times. I know the theory in general but is that true just to an extend? I am curious to hear junior and senior perspectives on this point.

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Done FIG. There’s no money for merger when banks underperform as they are the most cyclical sector. 07-08 was different as banks were going down and had to be rescued.

Within FIG you have banks (cyclical), AM and specialty finance (cyclical) and insurance (somewhat counter cyclical). FinTech is sometimes covered by FIG too but depends.

Most banks have a FIG team only to have an excuse to pitch for DCM trades which are large (but don’t generate much P&L). Haven’t seen a bank merger in a while (Europe). Wouldn’t say FIG is safe from layoffs if that’s the purpose of the post.

 

Done FIG. There’s no money for merger when banks underperform as they are the most cyclical sector. 07-08 was different as banks were going down and had to be rescued.

Within FIG you have banks (cyclical), AM and specialty finance (cyclical) and insurance (somewhat counter cyclical). FinTech is sometimes covered by FIG too but depends.

Most banks have a FIG team only to have an excuse to pitch for DCM trades which are large (but don’t generate much P&L). Haven’t seen a bank merger in a while (Europe). Wouldn’t say FIG is safe from layoffs if that’s the purpose of the post.

 

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