Potentially Good News For Jobless Bankers & Lawyers

After a bit of a lull in 2009, M&A activity–a gauge toward GDP growth–has begun to gain some momentum this year.  Unsurprisingly, this uptick in M&A activity coincides with gains in business and professional services employment; a series that includes lawyers and bankers.

M&A Activity vs. Business and Professional Services Employment

The upward trend for M&A is generally expected to continue as companies  continue spending cash they have hoarded since the onset of the economic crisis. More M&A should continue to bode well for business and professional services employment,;try running a M&A deal without several teams of lawyers…  And of course without senior bankers,  and their hoards  of junior banker minions working almost non-stop to create a mountain of pitch books, there would be no deals.  So which companies will these bankers be targeting?  Below is a table from Gridstone Research that highlights the top 35 commercial and industrial companies with the largest cash, short-term investments and marketable securities positions: