Barclays pay model has U.S. advisers miffed
Barclays hasn’t been too kind to its U.S. employees as of late. They fired a host of investment bankers earlier this month, plan to let go many more in the coming year, and now the bank has reportedly put a spur under the saddle of its American wealth management team.
The issue surrounds a remuneration rule aimed at improving the bank’s less-than-sterling reputation. The practice, which went into effect on Jan. 1, gives Barclays the ability formulate pay based not only on production, but also professional conduct, a metric never before used in pay calculations for brokers.
The comp breakdown is as follows, according to the Wall Street Journal. Advisors will receive roughly half their pay on a monthly basis, with the rest coming in quarterly lump sums. Those quarterly payments can be docked, however, if customer complaints come rolling in, for example.
While the first quarter has yet to be completed, advisors at Barclays are said to be frustrated with rule, despite unit head Tom Lee’s proclamation that the pay model has been “well received.” One recruiter told the Journal that at least 10 Barclays advisers have contacted him since the rule was laid out last year, which is saying something considering the firm employs only 275 U.S. brokers. At the very least, the rule could affect Barclays’ ability to recruit new talent.
However, advisers can take solace in the fact that some of their investment banking brethren are facing similar new-age pay models. Chief Executive Antony Jenkins recently announced a plan known as the “five Cs.” Bankers will been scored based on production, but also on customer and client, conduct, citizenship, colleague and company.
That’s actually six Cs, but who’s counting.
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