Morning Coffee: Why you’re better off working for Morgan Stanley than Goldman Sachs; 80 applicants chase 1 job

Thinking of working for Goldman Sachs, the meritocratic firm led by the uber-philosophical Lloyd Blankfein? Why not try Morgan Stanley, led by the ultra-efficient ex-management consultant James Gorman instead?

A new report by analysts at UBS suggests Morgan Stanley is by far the better bet. The efficient Gorman has come up with a far better strategy than the philosophical Blankfein, say the analysts. Morgan Stanley is better positioned for growth and its shares are more likely to outperform.

While Goldman continues to hammer on with its large and challenged fixed income sales and trading (FICC) business, Morgan Stanley’s strength is said to come from its new focus on wealth management and its renewed focus on equities. UBS analysts point out that these businesses are less capital intensive than FICC. They also offer more stable earnings and fly below the regulatory radar.  As a result, UBS says Morgan Stanley is well-placed to increase profitability by increasing revenues. Goldman Sachs, on the other hand, is stuck in a cycle of cost cutting. Or so they argue. Accordingly, Morgan Stanley's shares are up 8.8% since September, Goldman's are up 5.4%.

Separately, the Wall Street Journal highlights a job that may be as difficult to secure as a traineeship in an investment bank. It points out that 1.52m candidates are chasing 19,538 jobs as junior civil servants in China – an application ratio of 77:1. Unfortunately no job is easy to come by now – even Walmart receives 38 applicants per position in some parts of the U.S.

Meanwhile:

Memo from UBS to staff: “All social related chat rooms are prohibited and must be closed immediately.” (Bloomberg)

It may be years before bankers at Goldman Sachs and UBS receive their additional discretionary £4m bonus fee for floating the Royal Mail. (Financial News) 

Boris Johnson implies that people in the City are rich because their IQs exceed 130. (Guardian)

Calibrating the different kinds of boredom. (Science Daily) 

IT worker throws hard drive containing £5 m worth of bitcoins into landfill. (The Times)