Investment banking fees got crushed in 2015

2015 will be a year to forget for most investment banks.

Last year was the worst year since 2008 in terms of growth in fee revenue - the money banks make advising clients on financial activities such as bond or share offerings.

The total fee haul fell by 7.9%, the worst decline since 2008 when fees cratered by 35.6%.

Thomson Reuters put together a huge report card for the year, which shows just how bad things got. Here's how it looked compared to other years:

Fee revenue was down 8% globally, dragged down by European and Asian economic woes. Here's the map:All this translates to lower pay in the industry, as it contends with tougher capital rules, shrinking revenue and threats from upstarts in the financial technology sector.

London-based investment bankers expect a measly bonus of just £24,461 ($35,960) when their cheques drop this month, and now rank right at the bottom of the pile when it comes to how much they expect to get in bonuses.

It wasn't all bad. Bankers in mergers and acquisitions had an incredible year driven by mega-deals. The standout deal the $160 billion tie-up between Pfizer and Allergan.

In 2015, worldwide levels of M&A reached an all-time high of $4.2 trillion (£2.9 trillion) as big companies took advantage of the easy financing conditions to get deals done while the cheap money flows. That broke the previous record of $4.1 trillion set before the crisis, according to Thomson Reuters data.

US giants Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan dominated the market, but smaller boutique firms, such as Centerview Partners, grew their fee revenue way beyond the market average.

Here's the chart from Thomson Reuters: