Record profits, high bonuses on Wall Street

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Most Wall Street banks announced their fourth-quarter profits beat industry expectations last week. But by the end of this week, bank sources and compensation experts told Reuters, most of their staff will be underwhelmed by their bonuses.

Many dealmakers, traders and even one big bank CEO are getting flat-to-down bonuses and total compensation for their performance in 2019 even though overall profits grew, the sources and experts said.

Morgan Stanley reduced incentive compensation for staff and cut chief executive officer James Gorman’s total compensation by 7% for last year compared with 2018, as the bank worked to reduce expenses, which climbed in the fourth quarter.

Last week and throughout this week, managers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are getting similar news, sources said. All five banks declined to comment.

With M&A revenue down significantly and underwriting and trading results spotty across different banks, many employees will be disappointed by the size of their bonuses. Bond-trading businesses performed well compared with a bad year-ago quarter, but that may not spell big paychecks for those traders.

“Markets can go up, earnings can go up, but that doesn’t mean pay has to go up,” said Alan Johnson, who advises financial firms on pay. He expects bonuses to be flat at best for most Wall Street workers.