2022 was, quite possibly, the last hurrah for superstar banking compensation.
Booming deals and surging profits in the wake of the pandemic meant that banks paid some of their biggest compensation packages since before the financial crisis. These figures are made public in Europe and the UK as part of the European Union’s pay transparency requirements. The most recently available figures, for 2022, show just how generous big US banks’ UK arms can be in a good year.
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The figures below show pay for Material Risk Takers, or MRTs for short, defined as people whose “professional activities have a material impact on the risk profile of the firm,” per the UK’s FCA. All data is derived from Pillar III for each of the banks below.
The bar chart below shows pay for MRTs in 2022 versus the far more challenging year of 2020. Unsurprisingly, pay for MRTs was generally higher in 2022. JPMorgan was the biggest spender – average MRT pay at the bank increased from $1.6m per head to $2.2m, mostly driven by huge salary increases. The figures aren’t entirely comparing like with like, however. – Between 2020 and 2022, JPMorgan went from 757 MRTs to 482 as MRTs were redefined by the Bank of England. Morgan Stanley went from 360 to 418 MRTs in the same period.
Salaries and bonuses at Goldman Sachs London in 2022:
Number of regulated staff: There were 569 investment banking MRTs in Goldman Sachs’ London office in 2022.
Average salary: The average Goldman investment banking MRT in London earned $847k in fixed compensation in 2022.
Average bonus: The average Goldman investment banking MRT in London earned $635k in variable compensation in 2022.
Average compensation: The average Goldman investment banking MRT in London earned $1.5m in compensation in 2022.
Bonus breakdown: The average Goldman MRT (not just investment banking) in London earned just 18% of their bonus in cash (none deferred); 82% were in shares (78% deferred).
Deferred bonus: The average Goldman MRT’s bonus was 64% deferred (all shares).
Average severance payment: Goldman fired 6 MRTs in 2022, who received $165k each in severance, on average.
Distribution of staff earning over €1m:
Salaries and bonuses at JPMorgan London in 2022:
Number of regulated staff: There were 368 investment banking MRTs in JPMorgan’s London office in 2022.
Average salary: The average JPMorgan investment banking MRT in London earned £828k in fixed compensation in 2022.
Average bonus: The average JPMorgan investment banking MRT in London earned £880k in variable compensation in 2022.
Average compensation: The average JPMorgan investment banking MRT in London earned £1.7m in compensation in 2022.
Bonus breakdown: The average JPMorgan MRT (not just investment banking) in London earned just 23% of their bonus in cash (none deferred); 77% were in shares (71% deferred).
Deferred bonus: The average JPMorgan MRT’s bonus was 54% deferred (all shares).
Average severance payment: JPMorgan fired 12 MRTs in 2022, who received $139k each in severance, on average.
Distribution of staff earning over €1m:
Salaries and bonuses at Morgan Stanley London in 2022:
Number of regulated staff: There were 418 investment banking MRTs in Morgan Stanley’s London office in 2022.
Average salary: The average Morgan Stanley investment banking MRT in London earned $590k in fixed compensation in 2022.
Average bonus: The average Morgan Stanley investment banking MRT in London earned $543k in variable compensation in 2022.
Average compensation: The average Morgan Stanley investment banking MRT in London earned $1.1m in compensation in 2022.
Bonus breakdown: The average Morgan Stanley MRT (not just investment banking) in London earned just 23% of their bonus in cash (19% deferred); 77% were in shares (78% deferred).
Deferred bonus: The average Morgan Stanley MRT’s bonus was 65% deferred (93% of which were deferred shares).
Average severance payment: Morgan Stanley fired 19 MRTs in 2022, who received $263k each in severance, on average.
Distribution of staff earning over €1m:
Salaries and bonuses at Bank of America (BofA) London in 2022:
Number of regulated staff: There were 368 investment banking MRTs in BofA’s London office in 2022.
Average salary: The average BofA investment banking MRT in London earned £589k in fixed compensation in 2022.
Average bonus: The average BofA investment banking MRT in London earned £455k in variable compensation in 2022.
Average compensation: The average BofA investment banking MRT in London earned £1.0m in compensation in 2022.
Bonus breakdown: The average BofA MRT (not just investment banking) in London earned just 13% of their bonus in cash (none deferred); 76% were in shares (100% deferred), and 11% were in “share-linked instruments or equivalent” (none deferred).
Deferred bonus: The average BofA MRT’s bonus was 76% deferred (all shares).
Average severance payment: BofA fired 10 MRTs in 2022, who received $129k each in severance, on average.
Distribution of staff earning over €1m:
Salaries and bonuses at Citi London in 2022:
Number of regulated staff: There were 506.8 investment banking MRTs in Citi’s London office in 2022.
Average salary: The average Citi investment banking MRT in London earned $604k in fixed compensation in 2022.
Average bonus: The average Citi investment banking MRT in London earned $697k in variable compensation in 2022.
Average compensation: The average Citi investment banking MRT in London earned $1.3m in compensation in 2022.
Bonus breakdown: The average Citi MRT (not just investment banking) in London earned just 14% of their bonus in cash (none deferred); 86% were in shares (84% deferred).
Deferred bonus: The average Citi MRT’s bonus was 73% deferred (all shares).
Average severance payment: Citi fired 25 MRTs in 2022, who received $196k each in severance, on average.
Distribution of staff earning over €1m:
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