Morning Coffee: Goldman Sachs bonus complaints & BNP Paribas' bonus warning. Life of a Citadel PM
If you thought soaring profitability and revenues were a shoo-in for soaring bonuses, sorry. As we noted a few weeks ago, this has not been the case for 2024. At Goldman Sachs, for example, profitability and revenues rose by 68% and 16% respectively in 2024, but spending on pay rose by 8%.
It seems that Goldman people have noticed.
“The bottom line for 2024 comp is this: the firm crushed it and a lot of people who made it happen were given cheap seats at the celebration," one informed the New York Post. «I was expecting more given strong earnings,» said another. Another said people were «unhappy» and that, “It would seem that the good results are partly due to squeezing compensation.”
Goldman is not the only place with unhappy people. Citi, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have some too. At Goldman, though, the unhappiness has been magnified by the probable delight of CEO David Solomon and COO John Waldron, who were handed an extra $80m each over five years in retention awards shortly after the moderate bonuses for the rank and file were announced.
Solomon and Waldron's special payment seems to have contributed to the «frustration, anger and disappointment» at Goldman. “Of course, that is where our money went,” observed one equities trader there.
People at Goldman and at US banks in general may still be happier than at European banks, though. French bank BNP Paribas doesn't announce itsbonuses until early March. When it does, there may be tears on the fixed income trading floor. Bloomberg is reporting that BNP is planning to lift its bonuses by only 5% compared to the double-digit increases that were at least predicted at US banks.
BNP's 5% increase will be focused on its equities traders and DCM bankers, implying that
Read more on efinancialcareers.com
