Barclays Increases Bonuses for Senior Dealmakers to £825,550

Barclays paid bonuses for top staff in the unit housing its investment bank of £825,550, an increase of 30%, as firms face pressure to reward employees in an ongoing battle for talent.

The UK lender paid £1.2bn to so-called material risk takers within Barclays International, which houses its corporate and investment bank as well as its cards and payments unit.

Average bonuses for MRTs — key staff whose actions impact the risk profile of the bank — within the international unit increased to £825,550 in 2021 from £636,000 in 2020. The hike comes as Wall Street and European rivals have also hiked pay for top performers.

Barclays has also increased the bonus pool for all its employees, with the amount it put aside for variable compensation up by 23% to £1.9bn.

CS Venkatakrishnan, Barclays’ chief executive, said that he was “very confident we have paid competitively” in a call with journalists. He added that the “war for talent is something that has been there for the last year and is going to continue into this year”.

The 875 people classified as MRTs within Barclays International is the biggest across the group and it has paid them far more than other business lines. The overall number across the bank is 1,555 and Barclays paid out £1.5bn.

HSBC increased its bonus pool by 31% to $3.5bn, although this followed a 20% decline in 2020 as UK banks faced pressure from regulators to cut back pay. However, it put aside $410.6m for 507 MRTs within its investment bank — an increase of 53%.

Wall Street banks including Goldman Sachs have increased bonus payments for dealmakers by up to 50% in 2021, with pay spiralling to levels last seen in the boom years before the 2008 financial crisis. A record haul of $130bn in investment banking fees has sparked a battle for senior dealmakers this year that has continued into 2022.

Source: Financial News