Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse VPs saw biggest drops in pay
2022 was a tough year for everyone. But not equally.
A report by recruitment consultant Dartmouth Partners broke down the fall in compensation at investment banks in London. The results are… Not that surprising, actually.
Pay at Credit Suisse, quite predictably, fell the most compared to 2021 – by 28.8%. After a (really) bad year, the bank cut its bonus pool in half.
Goldman Sachs' vice presidents' (VPs)' compensation also fell by more than elsewhere and was down by nearly 25% last year. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that the average Goldman VP in London made nearly £100k ($125k) more than their equivalent at Credit Suisse for 2022.
CS VPs, in fact, made less than any of their rivals in the City. Dartmouth Partners noted that one banker called Credit Suisse’s deferred compensation system “insulting”, and that those who waited for bonuses before resigning were getting nothing.
At Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, established employees were happier with their pay than recent joiners. “One Goldman Sachs banker mentioned longer-serving employees were far happier with their compensation than more recent hires,” the report notes, and that “expectations among many new bankers were distorted by the strong 2021 performance.”
Two banks’ VPs reported an increase in compensation – Bank of America’s (although it was barely an increase) and Morgan Stanley’s, who reported a rather meaty 9.74% increase. If that comes as a surprise to you, it should. Bank of America did alright in 2022, all things considered, but Morgan Stanley really didn’t.
Average compensation for vice presidents at investment banks in London in 2022 ranged from a base salary of £149k plus a bonus of £95,500 for first years, to a base of £185,000 and a bonus of £232,500 for third years.
Goldman Sachs VPs were among the best paid, earning £345k, £373kand £413k between VP1 and VP3 according to Dartmouth. Some of the lowest paid VPs were at Barclays, Credit Suisse, and Deutsche Bank.
The full report is available from Dartmouth Partners.
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