Boutique bank PJT is stacking up on partners as it cuts heads and pay
PJT Partners, the boutique investment bank founded by Paul J Taubman, posted its results for Q1 of 2025 earlier today. They were quite good – and the outlook is confident – but the bank was not confident enough to match its spectacular 2024 rate of pay. It even cut some heads.
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PJT's topline was pretty decent. Revenues declined by 1%, but net income shot up by 66%. Given that Q1 of 2024 was a record quarter for the bank, with revenue up 65% on Q1 of 2023, the fact that revenues declined by just 1% during Q1 of 2025 was a mild success.
The bank hired more dealmakers across the quarter, too. There were 10 new partners to its stable, most of them in strategic advisory. Typically, PJT adds 10 partners in a full year. The bank now has 129 partners, an 8% increase on the number at the end of 2024.
Despite the increase in number of partners – who are, of course, much better compensated than the people that work for them – the pay, as well as the number of employees, fell in Q1. The bank had 1,143 people at the end of 2024; three months later, it had 1,142. Therefore, 11 unfortunate people had to make way for the new partners at the bank.
Sadly for those who remained, pay fell compared to last year. The average compensation package at the firm was $226k at the end of Q1 in 2024, but just $194k at the end of Q1 in 2025. That’s a decline of nearly 15%, which the bank blamed on “a lower accrual rate” for bonuses. Given that revenue only declined by 1% between the first quarters of 2024 and 2025, the fall seems harsh.
CEO and founder Paul J Taubman said that while the environment for M&A had “shifted dramatically” since the year began, the bank was still committed to its full-year outlook. The sort of optimism we all need these days.
Rival boutiques are equally cheery. “There are no tariffs on relationships," said Ken Moelis at his own boutique’s investor call last week.
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