“While everyone intellectually understood their compensation was going to be coming down 30% to 40%, when people see the number on a piece of paper they tend to have a more visceral reaction than they thought they would,” says one. “While some are flat to last year, most are clearly down, and in most cases have a restricted deferred element to the compensation.
“Every banker is becoming a financial institution specialist and working out whether having 60% of their bonus in the stock of that bank is worthwhile.”
Who wins in that environment? “The large US money-centre banks are considered to be the best, with JPMorgan the standout because of its share price performance comparative to the street,” says one.
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