Perella Weinberg cut some heads in London, pay shot up by 39%
When you work in investment banking, you will be familiar with people losing their jobs and people receiving higher bonuses. If you’re at the London branch of boutique bank Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP) however, you might be familiar with both happening at once.
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Perella Weinberg UK Limited, Perella Weinberg's UK subsidiary, has just released figures for full year 2024 on Companies House. Total revenues at the firm in the UK fell by 1% to £119m for the year, while “advisory fee revenue” went up by 13%.
PWP's global figures were much better: up by 35%. By comparison, the London team underperformed. And to make matters worse, according to market intelligence provider LSEG (formerly Refinitiv), global M&A activity increased by 10% in 2024 vs 2023; UK M&A was up by 33%.
There seem to have been consequences to the misfire. Perella ended last year with five fewer "advisory professionals; it added one person in “administration”. Net headcount therefore went from 165 to 161, a 2.4% decrease.
In spite of falling revenues and headcount – there was a dramatic increase in pay. The wage bill for 2024 shot up from £58m to £79m, and the average pay per head went from £353k ($478k) to £490k ($664k). That’s a 39% increase, despite the faltering turnover.
Perella Weinberg is well known impressive and possible excessive generosity. At one point during the deal dearth in early 2024, the bank had a stratospheric compensation ratio of 113%, up from 94% in the same period of 2023. It was paying out more in compensation than it received in revenue for deals. Clearly, it thinks that its London office will go through a similar recovery to the rest of the world.
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