These are the investment banks that have had a (comparatively) good 2011 in the UK
By now, you'll be kick-starting a new fitness regime, looking to banish roast dinners and chocolate from your diet and considering how 2012 will pan out.
Before you look ahead, however, it's worth considering which investment banks held up comparatively well last year (and therefore which could be deemed a safer employment bet).
Thomson Reuters is due to publish its full review of the UK advisory league tables tomorrow, but we've got a sneak preview of which institutions have been comparatively successful.
The key point to note, not surprisingly, is that the majority of banks earned less from UK companies than in 2010 – with the exception of Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse – that J.P Morgan has retained the top spot and that Barclays Capital (which aggressively built out its investment banking team in 2009-10) has remained in second place.
Meanwhile, RBS and UBS – both of which are set to significantly downsize their investment banks – have seen the largest decline in fees and fell from third and fourth respectively in the 2010 rankings.
Here are the fee rankings (encompassing ECM, DCM and M&A activity):
| Company | Fees 2011 | Fees 2010 |
| 1) J.P. Morgan | $315.8m | $333.6m |
| 2) Barclays Capital | $209.6m | $271.2m |
| 3) Goldman Sachs | $196.5m | $167.4m |
| 4) Deutsche Bank | $185.3m | $222.1m |
| 5) RBS | $182.2m | $251.3m |
| 6) Credit Suisse | $155.5m | $149.2m |
| 7) HSBC | $155.3m | $165.2m |
| 8) Morgan Stanley | $151.7m | $190.8m |
| 9) Rothschild | $138.4m | $155.1m |
| 10) UBS | $136.5m | $243m |
