Financial Services

Less than quarter of London bankers pleased with 2016 bonus

Banking now ‘highly scrutinised’ and no longer perceived as a glamorous job

Some 61% of Deutsche Bank’s employees in London were dissatisfied with their bonuses, followed by 52% at Credit Suisse Group and 50% at BNP Paribas

Fri May 5 2017 - 15:30

Less than a quarter of London's investment bankers were pleased with their 2016 bonuses, with staff at Deutsche Bank the most disgruntled after chief executive John Cryan slashed discretionary compensation for many top traders and advisers. By a small margin, those at JPMorgan Chase were happiest.

Some 61 per cent of the German bank's employees were dissatisfied with their bonuses, followed by 52 per cent at Credit Suisse Group and 50 per cent at BNP Paribas, salary benchmarking company Emolument. com said in a statement, citing a survey of 1,640 people at 18 banks.

At the other end of the scale, 30 per cent of JPMorgan front-office workers were dissatisfied with their variable pay, and 28 per cent admitted to being pleased.

In aggregate, 23 per cent of bankers were happy with their bonuses.

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European firms’ bankers in the city of London suffered a harsh year for payouts as they fell even further behind Wall Street in trading share, while Brexit has thrown the future of London as a financial centre into doubt.

As misconduct fines erased billions in profit last year, executives at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse responded by slashing jobs and giving many senior dealmakers zero bonus, or a “doughnut” in banker parlance.

American banks

American banks once again paid better than their British or European counterparts, Emolument data show. A London-based vice-president at a US firm got on average £235,000 (€277,000) in total compensation, about £60,000 (€50,800) more than a counterpart at a UK-based bank.

"High pay does not allay bankers' frustration with their careers," said Alice Leguay, co-founder of Emolument. "Banking is no longer perceived as a glamorous job, now highly scrutinised and regulated, with many shackled to it in order to fund their existing lifestyles while awaiting the right opportunity to switch to the hedge fund or private-equity sectors."

Major European firms' total share of revenue from trading stocks and bonds, which was 35 per cent three years ago, dropped below 26 per cent for a second straight quarter in the first three months of this year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data.

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