Investment bankers must at times bore themselves with their talk of “strong pipelines” and “active conversations,” the ever-present characteristics of even the worst markets. But following a deeply disappointing 2023 for mergers, acquisitions and capital raisings, the new year belief in a rebound is more fervent than normal. After all, 2024 can’t be any worse, can it?

On the plus side, there really does seem to be a lot of pent-up activity waiting to break out — there were bursts of it already late last year. The expectation of a recovery has led bank executives to boost bonuses for unproductive rainmakers to stop them from quitting, while boutique advisory firms have continued hiring.