If you work at J.P. Morgan, then you should know that chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon and Daniel Pinto, who heads up the corporate and investment banking (CIB) division, appreciate you and all that you do for the bank. How do we know? Well, it’s started J.P. Morgan’s employee appreciation week, and giving out free ‘mini burgers’ and nachos.
In his company-wide memo, Pinto wrote: “Go out of your way to say thank you – not just to colleagues that sit near you, but to colleagues around the world who support you every day. Thank you for all you do.”
Meanwhile, Dimon wrote: “We feel enormously blessed to work with such talented employees across the globe. You have our gratitude — not only this week, but each and every day.”
They backed up their words with actions demonstrating their appreciation by providing loyal employees with free nachos and mini-burgers, panels featuring famous athletes and conversations with a psychologist offering tips for how to deal with stress more effectively. Other fun events included the “Great Bank Street Bake Off,” where the banker who could bake the best batch of cookies (or biscuits in the London office) won a prize.
Separately, there are alarming signals coming from the initial public offering (IPO) market. Specifically, banks have brought in a mere $3.7bn in fees from U.S.-listed equity deals so far this year. That, coupled with the cheap funding available to companies in the current low-interest-rate environment, has made the business of selling stocks less profitable, raising concerns on Wall Street that the long-time cash cow investment banks rely on may never fully recover.
Fear not, though, because better times are likely just around the corner, according to EY’s Americas IPO markets leader. While acknowledging that 2016 hasn’t been great due to Brexit and the U.S. election, Jackie Kelley predicted that 2017 will be a better year for IPOs.
Meanwhile:
J.P. Morgan’s banking analysts had forecast investment banks’ quarterly revenues to sink by 7% year-over-year, but in their latest prediction is a 2% increase in revenues across the IB industry, buoyed by strong fixed income trading activity. (Financial News)
Recently charged with insider trading, hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman is a streetwise survivor, but he actually has a rather patchy investment record. (FT)
Cooperman’s son allegedly thought that his dad’s trades were somewhat fishy. (Bloomberg)
Where are the bankers in Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list? (Fortune)
A former Brevan Howard partner is making a bunch of high-profile hires in New York, including two ex-Goldman Sachs executives, for his new Light Sky Macro hedge fund. (Financial News)
Wells Fargo’s apology is an exercise in corporate fluffery (FT)
A famous Denver-based stock-picker has found someone to bail out his debt-ridden firm: himself. (WSJ)
A tiny New York-based hedge fund is killing it, baffling investors and competitors alike, and it won’t reveal its secret to success. (Business Insider)
German politicians are quite concerned about Deutsche Bank’s low profitability and dizzying legal costs. (Bloomberg)
Banks’ contingency plans for various Brexit scenarios are likely to be out-of-date long before Theresa May even triggers the official exit process. (Bloomberg)
There are more than 1,000 clearing jobs in London’s financial district that would be threatened by various Brexit scenarios. (Bloomberg)
Lloyd’s of London is likely to announce its plans to relocate its headquarters out of its eponymous home city in the near future. Lloyd’s of Frankfurt just doesn’t have the same ring to it. (City A.M.)
A Princeton professor is being hailed as a visionary for writing that “a blindfolded monkey throwing darts at the stock listings could select a portfolio that would do just as well as one selected by the experts” back in 1972. (Bloomberg)
How much does a female CEO add to market returns? (Bloomberg)
U.S. women are likely to be paid the same as men by 2152. (Bloomberg)
There are certain benefits to working on Sunday, so why not give a six-day work week a try? (New York Magazine)
Related articles:
Morning Coffee: 24-year-old bankers on $280k find new way of socializing. Morgan Stanley slams BrexitAnalysts in IBD have found a new method of spending their time outside work.
Morning Coffee: Bankers don’t lie, they have ‘unethical amnesia’. Storm clouds gather over London’s banksSenior bankers struggling to remember key events have the backing of science. How safe are London jobs really?
Morning Coffee: Here’s who’s leaving investment banks now. Deutsche’s dubious new strategySenior fixed income salespeople can step aside: a new breed of esteemed banker is taking their place as the victims of sudden retirement
Photo credit: AleksandarGeorgiev/GettyImages