So long, and thanks for the bonus

Some bankers probably have their notice letter already written out and ready to send. Once their bonuses are safely in their bank accounts, they won't be seen for dust.

The first few weeks of February, after many banks' year-end bonus payments have safely cleared, is traditionally a busy time for headhunters, one of whom refers to the period as "prime time".

This year is not expected to be any different. "Anyone who is going to quit will quit around that time," said the recruiter.

This applies in particular to the big US banks. Exits from European firms may come later, as they are not due to pay bonuses for another six weeks or so.

CEOs and divisional heads will no doubt be on the edges of their seats, wondering whether this year will see as many defections as the last one, in what has been dubbed a "war for talent".

A lower than expected bonus pool certainly wouldn't help with retention efforts. But from what GlobalCapital has been hearing, capital markets bankers have more reason than usual to be satisfied with this year's cheques — not that many ever are, at least not in front of the boss.

Pools are said to be up by around 20% on average versus last year. Maybe that will be enough to stem the flow.

It comes after a year of salary raises for junior bankers as banks grappled with high workloads, elevated inflation and competition for talent from the glitzy technology sector.

This week, GlobalCapital dived into the murky world of capital markets compensation. Subscribers and triallists can read what we found out here.

Another way to try to ensure loyalty is by dishing out promotions, ideally with higher pay attached. It is not completely unheard of for investment bankers to hand in their resignation immediately after being given a bigger job, but it could be considered rude.

Two senior debt capital markets bankers that have just had their titles boosted are Morgan Stanley's Alex Menounos and Jon Walton, who are taking over as co-heads of fixed income capital markets from Piers Harris, who is retiring.

Many other MDs and directors probably wish their bosses would retire, too, or leave banking and set up yet another capital markets fintech start-up, to create more room for upward mobility in the ranks.

Even before bonuses are paid this year, there have already been some notable hires in January, such as Standard Chartered's appointment of Marisa Drew as chief sustainability officer.

This is the second high profile departure from Credit Suisse in quick succession on the ESG side, after the firm's global head of ESG strategy, Daniel Wild, announced that he was leaving for private bank J Safra Sarasin. But CS has moved quickly to replace Drew, lining up an insider, Emma Crystal, who is currently head of international wealth management for northern and western Europe and leads the sustainable client solutions unit.

Other noteworthy moves revealed this week include those of Silvia Viviano, Riccardo Penati and Andrea Casati to UniCredit.

Viviano, who was until the end of last year head of EMEA ECM execution at JP Morgan, is taking on a new role as head of alternative capital markets at UniCredit, and Penati, a consumer and retail investment banker, is also leaving JP Morgan.

The third banker hired by UniCredit, Casati, is a former vice-chairman of Asia Pacific ECM at UBS in Hong Kong. He left that position and returned to Italy in 2019.

Do you have a new job or a new hire to tell us about? Send it in confidence to richard.metcalf@globalcapital.com or call +44 (0)20 7779 7315.

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