[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

JPMorgan is a challenging environment and, in some years you win and in some you lose.  There were both winners and losers in 2012.  At the New York-based firm, among those who made 3% less in in total compensation were the investment bankers and the traders.  Portfolio managers and other asset management execs saw their pay packages rise by 6% over 2011. 

Cuts.   Payouts for senior investment bankers and traders actually were not as bad as anticipated.  Many expected their compensation to be reduced by more than 10% - in part because global deals in 2012 fell 13% to $2.67 trillion.  Net income at JPMorgan’s investment bank for the first nine months of 2012 - before that division merged with the corporate bank and treasury services divisions - actually fell 15% to $5.2 billion.

Life at the Top of the Corporate Ladder, as we learned one week ago, was bittersweet -though not traumatic.  CEO Jamie Dimon had his take home pay halved to $11.5 million, in response to the London Whale trade losses that cost the firm over $6 billion.  Other executives sacrificed their pay to ensure that junior and mid-level staffers received more than might have been intended. 

On average, some 26,000 employees in the investment bank received on average $315,000 for the 12 months ended 9/30.  Throughout the firm, compensation expenses increased 5% to $7 billion, despite a reduced employee headcount of 258,965 from 260,157.

For further details, go to [Bloomberg, 2/6/13].