Investment Banking Survey
Investment Banking Industry Insights: Benchmarking, DEI, and is wellbeing considered?
Salary Benchmarking, DEI, and is wellbeing considered?
Pearse Partners has recently conducted an Investment Banking survey of talent across the UK market in tandem with collating insights on the latest bonus data and payouts. The survey was aimed at assisting talent in the industry to not only benchmark individual salaries across the sector but also to understand the progress that has been made to date to identify gender gaps in such a male dominated field. The findings from the survey have been illuminating and some of the key takeouts are highlighted below:
Compensation Survey:
- 75% reported their bonus is still due to be paid in full
- 50% reported once their bonus has been paid, they will look for a new position
Exactly half of the talent have reported they will seek a new role as soon as bonus has been paid which is probably not the most surprising stat considering bonuses are predicted to be 50% smaller than in 2021. Whilst some may feel jumping ship will be the answer for an increase in compensation, Wall Street is grappling with steep declines in capital markets activity as initial public offering slowed to a crawl, acquisitions fell and stock had their worst first half since 1970.
Diversity and Inclusion:
- 23% reported Diversity, Inclusion and Equity needs to be improved at board level
- 68% report that female representation at board level is vital
Based on qualitative data, the majority of female talent seek context of an organisations gender quota and consider the female representation within senior and board roles before accepting a role. Additionally, women noted future career development prospects, flexibility of working from home hours and the incessant gender pay gap continues to challenge areas of concern for females in the industry.
To contradict this, 12% of respondents do not even consider gender diversity as a decision factor when accepting a new role within finance, and prefer the firms ability to hire purely based on skills and characteristics as opposed to hitting an equal gender quota suggesting it is perceived as ‘patronising’.
Work life balance:
- 5% reported recognition was important
- 67% reported career progression was high on the agenda
Flexibility and culture was noted as a key factor when joining a new firm, highlighting that flexibility and work life balance gives individuals an opportunity to integrate work into their family life, stating that flexible work times equates to higher productivity. The majority concern for women when competing this question was a fear of return to work place integration is not seen as a necessity and therefore takes an affect on overall employee wellness. Another highlight from participants feedback is having a structure or a clear pathway in place from the beginning of their start date as this provides motivation and a desire to succeed.
To conclude, from the survey results it is clear compensation data is not as readily available as previous years, individuals are cautious of what will happen to compensation over the next few months and there is a likelihood that most bonuses will be paid across a periodic period in an attempt to retain staff. Women participants are keen to achieve senior level gender representation however it appears that there is still some delicacy around firms hiring specific genders of the fear they could be making women seen as ‘special’. It is important for everyone to galvanise support from all angles of individuals throughout the hiring and staff retention process in pursuit of creating equal development opportunities for all.
For more information on the full survey results, please contact Joy Bayliss on joybayliss@pearsepartners.com. To find out more about our DEI hiring policy at Pearse Partners, follow this link.
