Job cuts and shrinking bonuses dominated headlines from Wall Street this year, so it's easy to forget pockets of the industry are booming.
Plunging oil prices, the Federal Reserve's first rate increase since before the financial crisis and the collapse in junk-rated debt are creating opportunities for some bankers and traders, spurring hiring and raises.
Analysts, recruiters and executives deem these the best jobs to have in 2016:
Oil and gas bankers
Investment bankers advised a record $4.2 trillion of announced mergers and acquisitions in 2015, led by blockbuster deals in pharmaceuticals, telecom and technology companies.
Which industry is ripe for the next wave of consolidation? Battered by oil's plunge, energy companies will need to lean on bankers in 2016 to shore up equity or sell themselves to stronger rivals.
"When an industry blows up, you usually get a couple of really good years," said Brian Foran, a partner at Autonomous Research LLP. "It's similar to banks in 2008 and 2009, when you had some of the biggest acquisitions ever and it was phenomenal for financial institutions bankers."
Restructuring bankers
Rising defaults, widening spreads on high-yield debt and climbing U.S. interest rates mean restructuring desks have a big year ahead, according to Vincent Hung of Autonomous Research.
Those bankers advise debtors or creditors when companies need restructuring through asset-sales or in bankruptcy. Boutiques including Houlihan Lokey Inc. and Lazard Ltd. dominate the field (megabanks are more often conflicted as creditors or underwriters), and the firms could see a 24 percent jump in restructuring revenue next year, Hung said in a Dec. 18 note.
Rates traders
Rates traders already are poised for some of this year's biggest raises, with those handling options due for a 15 percent increase on average, according to recruiting firm Options Group Inc. Trading government bonds and related instruments should remain strong in 2016 as the Fed tightens monetary policy, while the European Central Bank loosens it, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake said this month.
"You finally have an outlook where major central banks are going in different directions," Foran said. "That just creates a lot of activity."
Electronic trading personnel
Banks need traders and quants to improve platforms that help clients make and manage bets across multiple assets and markets, said Jessica Lee, an Options Group director.
"A lot of hedge funds have done a better job than banks at integrating electronic platforms to trade cross-asset," Lee said. "You have people at high-frequency trading platforms who've never worked at a bank who are actually going to banks now."
Those who jump from hedge funds can typically expect a 25 percent pay raise when joining a bank, she said.
