City 2016 bonuses seen a fraction of private equity, survey says

[LONDON] Investment bankers in London's financial center expect an average bonus of 24,461 pounds (US$36,000) this year, about a quarter of the compensation predicted by employees at private-equity firms, according to a recruitment company.

Private-equity employees had the highest expectations, predicting an average bonus of 104,125 pounds, or about 71 per cent of their salary, according to the survey of more than 1,000 City of London staff conducted by Astbury Marsden. Private bankers and wealth managers forecast a bonus of about 59,196 pounds, or 60 per cent of their salary.

Europe's largest lenders have been hurt by rules capping bonuses at twice annual salary, while tougher capital requirements have prompted firms to eliminate thousands of jobs and scale back their securities operations. At Deutsche Bank AG, co-Chief Executive Officer John Cryan has said that bankers still earn too much money.

"The problem is that even those lower expectations are above what banks want to pay them," Adam Jackson, managing director at Astbury Marsden, said in the statement. "Investment banks could risk an outflow of key personnel if they are tempted away by the comparative largesse of private-equity firms."

Employees in investment-management expect bonuses of 27,525 pounds, followed by staff in corporate- and stockbroking forecasting an average of 27,071 pounds, according to the survey. Traders of commodities expect 26,939 pounds. The average bonus forecast for workers across the City is about 23,196 pounds, Astbury Marsden said.

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