Salaries and bonuses at London banks, ranked from best to worst – plus who’s paying their staff most fairly
One size rarely fits all, especially, as a study out today has discovered, when it comes to bankers' pay.
The research by Emolument.com, which crunched the numbers on 1,433 salaries, found that paypackets for associates at 18 of London's well-known banks varied by up to £73,000 while the highest paid managing director (MD) is pocketing around £571,963 more than the lowest.
In addition, the study found that the bank with the biggest payout at MD level – JP Morgan with a total of £919,463 – was not the one offering the best pay for associates.
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Associates at Morgan Stanley topped the tables with a total reward of £136,000, shortly followed by those at Goldman Sachs on £131,000 and those at Bank of America on £125,000. Meanwhile, those at JP Morgan found themselves earning just £105,000.
Associates
| Salary | Bonus | Total Pay | |
| Morgan Stanley | £88,000 | £48,000 | £136,000 |
| Goldman Sachs | £81,000 | £50,000 | £131,000 |
| Bank of America | £90,000 | £35,000 | £125,000 |
| Citigroup | £85,000 | £32,500 | £117,500 |
| Deutsche Bank | £80,000 | £35,000 | £115,000 |
| Nomura | £80,000 | £30,000 | £110,000 |
| JP Morgan | £80,000 | £25,000 | £105,000 |
| Barclays Bank | £75,000 | £30,000 | £105,000 |
| HSBC | £75,000 | £30,000 | £105,000 |
| Credit Agricole | £75,000 | £27,500 | £102,500 |
| Societe Generale | £72,000 | £30,000 | £102,000 |
| Credit Suisse | £80,000 | £20,000 | £100,000 |
| UniCredit | £70,000 | £23,000 | £93,000 |
| BNP Paribas | £71,000 | £20,000 | £91,000 |
| RBS | £75,000 | £12,500 | £87,500 |
| Jefferies | £65,000 | £11,000 | £76,000 |
| Commerzbank | £60,000 | £15,000 | £75,000 |
| Lloyds Banking Group | £55,000 | £8,000 | £63,000 |
For MDs, Morgan Stanley takes the second place position but its total remuneration package of £682,525 is 25.8 per cent smaller than JP Morgan's. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs took the third and fourth place for MD pay, with awards of £675,000 and £674,705 respectively.
Managing directors
| Salary | Bonus | Total Pay | |
| JP Morgan | £306,488 | £612,975 | £919,463 |
| Morgan Stanley | £300,000 | £382,525 | £682,525 |
| Deutsche Bank | £275,000 | £400,000 | £675,000 |
| Goldman Sachs | £320,000 | £354,705 | £674,705 |
| Barclays Bank | £250,000 | £400,000 | £650,000 |
| Citigroup | £300,000 | £326,375 | £626,375 |
| Bank of America | £275,000 | £325,000 | £600,000 |
| Nomura | £300,000 | £260,000 | £560,000 |
| HSBC | £255,080 | £282,500 | £537,580 |
| Jefferies | £252,000 | £221,000 | £473,000 |
| BNP Paribas | £250,000 | £220,000 | £470,000 |
| Lloyds Banking Group | £210,000 | £252,500 | £462,500 |
| RBS | £242,500 | £200,000 | £442,500 |
| Credit Suisse | £230,000 | £180,000 | £410,000 |
| Societe Generale | £206,500 | £162,500 | £369,000 |
| UniCredit | £220,000 | £130,000 | £350,000 |
| Commerzbank | £200,000 | £150,000 | £350,000 |
| Credit Agricole | £200,000 | £147,500 | £347,500 |
However, JP Morgan also won Emolument.com's reward for being the most unfair with its pay in its Fairness Index. The salary comparison website calculated that if JP Morgan were the compensate its employees the same as the fairest bank it studied – Credit Agricole – it would pay its MD a mere £788,000 while increasing the compensation for its associates to £236,000.
Read more: These are the 18 highest-paying jobs in London's finance sector
"We expect that our Fairness Index will vary from one year to the next depending on the bank's needs to retain certain generations of employees," said Alice Leguay, co-founder and operating chief at Emolument.com. "As we saw this year, associates across the board saw a substantial bump up in their bonuses, while in the previous couple of years, they had been overlooked in favour of revenue-generating staff such as MDs and directors."
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Despite the bonus cap, some bankers' bonuses are still bumper, with the flexible pay making up 70 per cent of the total pay at MD level at JP Morgan, although just 37 per cent of MD total pay at UniCredit. At associate level, bonuses account for 38 per cent of pay at Goldman Sachs but only 13 per cent at Lloyds Banking Group.
However, previous research by Emolument.com has found that bankers are less than thrilled with the most recent round of bonus payouts. Those at Bank of America were the most eager to voice their displeasure, with 45 per cent saying that they were not happy with their most recent bonus.