Brokers’ ‘95 Earnings Average $123,839, Up 6%

Stockbrokers earned an average of $123,839 last year, a 6% increase from 1994, as equity markets and trading surged, the Securities Industry Assn., Wall Street’s trade group, said Tuesday.

They may make even more money in 1996 as their customers buy more stocks and mutual funds amid near record highs in the markets, brokerage executives said.

Retail brokers, those who advise and buy securities for individual investors, are paid mainly on the basis of the commissions they generate. Last year, the average broker brought in $305,876 in commissions, an increase of 9.6% from 1994. On average, brokers kept 43% of their commissions last year.

“When you have a market that’s acted like this one has acted, it’s going to be good for brokers,” said Raymond Mason, chairman of Legg Mason Inc., a Baltimore-based securities firm with about 1,000 brokers. “We’re at or near records on almost everything.”

Pay for the nation’s 48,262 brokers “will be higher” in 1996, said Ian Davidson, chairman and chief executive of D.A. Davidson & Co., a brokerage firm based in Great Falls, Mont. Trading volume increased this year while brokers were managing more assets for their clients, he said.

That’s good for Wall Street’s profits. The U.S. securities industry earned an estimated $6.2 billion before taxes in the first half of 1996, analysts said.

Brokers’ earnings fell last year from the record $128,553 in 1993, the SIA said. Still, being a stockbroker is among the most lucrative jobs available. The average family income in the U.S. totaled $36,950 in 1993, the latest figure available.