Citi is excited about its new hires, JPMorgan is talking-up bonuses

Roaring positivity has returned. Speaking at this week's Barclays Financial Services Conference, Doug Petno, the funniest man at JPMorgan, was utterly serious when he declared that animal spirits are back in the room. "Big M&A is back," said Petno. "Big IPOs are back." Markets revenues at JPMorgan are still at the exalted levels of the pandemic. 

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Bonuses for 2025 should be higher as a result. Last year, JPMorgan paid 18 people in London more than $5m. Yesterday, Petno said there will be "higher performance-related expenses" across markets and banking globally for 2025. Bonus pools should be higher across the corporate and investment bank. This might simply be because JPMorgan has added over 100 senior bankers in the past year, but with animal spirits at large, everyone could receive a boost.

Speaking at the same conference, Citi's CFO Mark Mason didn't mention Citi's bonuses, but did express excitement at all the bank's new hires in the investment bank. Banking is "obviously a talent business," said Mason. He said Vis Raghavan, head of Citi's investment bank, has been "enhancing" Citi's talent after taking a "hard look at the cost structure."

Many of Raghavan's hires are his former colleagues from JPMorgan. They include Guillermo Baygual, Citi's new co-head of global M&A, who announced his arrival at his new desk yesterday, and Amit Nayyar, JPMorgan's former EMEA head of fintech banking, who spent all but four years of his career in India and who has reportedly joined Citi as co-head of UK, Europe and the Middle East and Africa investment banking coverage. Mason said Citi has been hiring in a "methodical way." Mason also expressed tacit support for Andy Sieg in wealth management, whom he said "took a hard look at the operations" and "very methodically took out excess cost." Sieg has been accused of upsetting colleagues with his "hard charging" approach.

With animal spirits unleashed, the implication is that hiring might be unleashed too. JPMorgan is currently looking for banking associates for natural resources, diversified industrials, and pharma in London. Citi is looking for associates in New York.

It's not just senior people at JPMorgan and Citi that feel excited. Goldman Sachs' CEO David Solomon also told Barclays' conference attendees that he is excited and that big M&A is back.  Goldman is currently looking for healthcare associates in London, generalists in Paris, and industrials associates in Chicago.

Petno said the resurgence in M&A deals is being driven by "a strategic imperative to be global, big, diversified, integrate your operations, and there's also a sense that you have a finite window of time to complete large M&A before the regulatory sentiment may shift back."

It could be an exciting fourth quarter. 

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