Deutsche Bank can't stop adding managing directors in London
If you’ve been at Deutsche Bank in London for a few years, you might be wondering if you have fewer colleagues and more bosses than before – and you’d be correct.
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Accounts published by Deutsche’s London subsidiary, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, showed that there were, once again, a record number of managing directors (MDs) working at the bank at the end of 2023 – 538 in total, compared to the 511 MDs DB had in London at the end of 2022.
Those numbers are part of a growing trend; there were 476 MDs at the bank in 2021 and 466 at the end of 2020. The increases, however, are only notable in comparison to everyone else in Deutsche’s hierarchy.
The total number of employees at the bank went from 6,810 to 6,776 between 2020 and 2023, practically flat, and other titles have made way for the sheer increase in MDs. There are 16% fewer employees without titles. 11% fewer analysts. 1% more associates. 8% fewer assistant VPs. 4% more VPs. 3% fewer directors. But there are 15% more MDs.
A significant chunk of those new MDs are probably freshly hired. Corporate & Investment Bank chief Fabrizio Campelli has boasted about the number of new dealmakers at the bank, and lauded the new “brand” of Deutsche Bank that’s bringing them in - referring to Deutsche's rising stock price that makes bonuses paid in equity even more attractive. The bank's higher-than-average salaries and propensity for guaranteed bonuses, don't hurt the situation either.
However, aside from the intentional hiring and promoting, there may also be title inflation going on. It’s probably not a coincidence that 2022, which was the toughest year for investment banking revenue in years, had the largest increase in MDs while every single other title declined in popularity. When times are tough, and banks don’t have piles of money to give out, they promote.
In spite of the surge in MD numbers, pay hasn’t changed much at the bank. Deutsche paid £230k ($308k) per head in 2023, up just 1.7% from £227k ($303k) in 2022. Things might be different in 2024, however – Q2 results show that revenues at Deutsche have increased massively across the investment bank, and all those new MDs will likely be expecting established MD bonuses.
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