Morning Coffee: Another bank has cut its more expensive people. Chris Rokos can buy another English mansion

As we roll towards the allocation and payment of end of year bonuses, another bank has been cutting the sorts of people who might usually expect big ones. This time, it's Deutsche Bank.

Get Morning Coffee ☕ in your inbox. Sign up here.

The Financial Times reports that Claudio de Sanctis, the head of Deutsche's private wealth and retail unit, has cut 111 people, most of whom are directors and managing directors. Deutsche's private wealth and retail division has a cost target of 60-65% next year. In the first three quarters of this year, it was 77%. 

While Deutsche Bank has been cutting in its private bank, it appears to have slowed the process in its investment bank: spending on restructuring and severance in the investment bank fell to €18m in the third quarter, from €27m last year. However, senior bankers at Deutsche appear to generate abnormally low revenues per head, so the hatchet may yet appear again.

De Sanctis has not only been cutting, but cutting to grow and cutting to hire. He told the FT that if he's going to reach the 60-65% target, there will need to be growth in "all our business lines." He also told the FT that he will surely need to start hiring some new wealth managers next year. 

If de Sanctis' cutting-growing-hiring strategy fails, he may be chopped too: the FT notes that his two predecessors were replaced for failing to deliver growth and productivity targets. 

Deutsche Bank isn't the only one trimming senior people: HSBC has a similar approach; Barclays may soon be open to trying it. Citi appears to have cut Penny Lovell, head of its high net worth business in London, and was recently seen hiring junior debt capital markets (DCM) bankers after letting go of senior people.  

Separately, Chris Rokos, the former Goldman Sachs trader with a macro hedge fund, appears to have done nearly as well as Trump from Trump's reelection. 

Bloomberg reports that Rokos made almost $1bn in a single day on the post-Trump election rally, and that money was made "across asset classes."

Rokos, who is known for highly erratic returns, may now be in a position to buy himself some more English country houses. He already owns Mawley Hall in Shropshire and Tottenham House in Wiltshire and seems to have a thing for dilapidated English stately homes which could benefit from floating acoustic floors. 

Meanwhile... 

Cantor and BCG head Howard Lutnick is in charge of identifying 4,000 new hires to fill the second Trump administration, including antitrust officials, securities lawyers and national security advisers who have global expertise. But he's still running financial firms that serve corporate clients, traders, cryptocurrency platforms and real estate ventures around the world — all of which are regulated by the same agencies whose appointees he is helping to find. (NY Times) 

Apollo's Marc Rowan might be Treasury Secretary. So might hedge fund managers Paul Bessant and John Paulson. (Semafor) 

Goldman Sachs has put aside 25% more to pay its London staff this year than last year. (Financial News)  

Energy trading firm Dare International is suing two traders who it says “flagrantly” violated their employment terms to gain “more money as soon as possible” before joining it main rival in Dubai. The alleged wrongdoing was unearthed in a recorded conversation at a Sushi restaurant. (Bloomberg) 

Senior finance professionals are flying back and forth between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia is an IPO hotspot by virtue of its privatization program. Abu Dhabi is an investment hotspot by virtue of its energy riches and efforts to prepare for a post carbon economy. (Bloomberg) 

Bank of America is making its US employees take nearly all their legal disputes to arbitration. Assault and harassment complaints are excepted. (Bloomberg) 

20- and 30-somethings are a different breed. they rarely make sales calls, avoid email and are loath to pick up the phone. They make connections over LinkedIn and follow up via text. When they do meet in person, it’s more likely to be over coffee than lunch, and if invited to a party, they are ordering mocktails and nonalcoholic beer. (WSJ) 

The joy of giving money away. “People experience a kind of ‘giver’s high’ that lasts longer than the fleeting pleasure of personal spending.” (WSJ)  

As a burned out lawyer I drank eight cans of Diet Coke a day. (The Times) 

 Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available.

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libellous (in which case it won’t.)