REUTERS/Brendan McDermidJordan Kessler, son of trader Glenn Kessler, uses his father's mobile phone and badge on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange November 28, 2014.Bonus season is upon us, and now we have our first inkling of how it's going to go for traders. It's not good.
Citigroup is cutting bonuses for fixed-income and equity traders anywhere between 5-10 percent compared to last year, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The cut comes after a poor performance year for traders, with Citi's trading revenue down 9 percent.
According to the WSJ article, Citi co-president James Forsee announced on Wednesday that the company's December revenue was worse than they'd previously thought. Bloomberg reported mid-December that Citi had originally planned to keep the bonus pool the same as last year's.
Citi's traders aren't the only ones in trouble. A study from Johnson Associates predicted that trader bonuses would slide 10 percent in 2015.
In contrast, Citi's bankers should see a 2-5 percent increase in their bonuses this year, Bloomberg reported.
Let the banker vs. trader smack talk begin...