UBS bankers get $40,000 bonus on promotion to associate level

Bloomberg

UBS Group AG will pay a $40,000 one-time bonus to its global banking analysts when they are promoted, doubling what some competitors are offering, as lenders seek to reward younger employees weighed down by a surge in dealmaking.
Starting as soon as this month the Swiss bank will pay the sign-on bonus to analysts promoted to associates on top of any regular salary increases, said people familiar with the move who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The amount represents about 30% of the annual base pay of a newly promoted associate, one of the people said.
Banks are raising pay for junior employees to prevent defections and ease discontent amid a jump in deals and an intensifying focus on work-life issues sparked by the pandemic. Wall Street was set abuzz earlier this year by a leaked presentation from junior analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc that detailed their gruelling workload and punishing hours.
The bank’s shares were little changed on Monday and are up 14.8% this year.
UBS is upping the stakes, offering one-time bonuses that are double the amount that Credit Suisse Group AG and Wells Fargo & Co agreed to give their junior bankers. Other lenders such as HSBC Holdings Plc are also moving to raise pay and shortening the path to promotion, while Houlihan Lokey Inc. has even offered some workers all-expenses-paid vacations.
At the same time, UBS is cutting jobs. The Swiss lender said last month that it’s taking a $300 million restructuring charge, which includes costs to cut jobs across different regions and business divisions. The bank declined to give specific numbers.
But banks are also beefing up staff to avoid burnout. JPMorgan Chase & Co. said last month it plans to add almost 200 staff, joining Goldman Sachs and
Jefferies Financial Group Inc in boosting headcount.
UBS has introduced a new bonus for junior bankers and shifted the payment of incentives to August, as the bank seeks to support younger hires.
The payment will apply to global banking analysts upon promotion, it said in a memo seen by Bloomberg and first reported by Financial News. The Swiss lender has also shifted year-end reviews for analysts to the summer “in line with general market practice” and it’s seeking to quickly fill vacancies to alleviate the strain on staff.
The bank also encouraged employees to take advantage of existing programs to support mental health, amid a rising tide of complaints in the industry about excessive workloads.
“We know that maintaining your work-life balance is challenging given the demanding deal pipeline and existing remote working environment,” UBS investment bank executives Ros Lesperance and Javier Oficialdegui wrote in the memo. “We’ve taken some steps to try to alleviate the effect this could potentially have on your
physical and mental health.”
The move by UBS is the latest in a string of measures taken by banks, after an outcry about
excessive work cultures.
Several major banks, including JPMorgan and Goldman, have promised to lighten the load as a result, with senior bankers at Goldman Sachs relying more on executive assistants to help manage schedules rather than using first-year analysts for such work.