Star performing bankers in high-margin growth areas, including private banking, structured credit, equity derivatives, commodities, and corp...

Star performing bankers in high-margin growth areas, including private banking, structured credit, equity derivatives, commodities, and corporate finance will see their bonuses increase 10-30 per cent on last year, according to executive search firm Armstrong International. But lower performers will be disappointed, receiving smaller bonuses than expected to free up money for the best performers, say the firm in its report on 2006 bonuses. “Management are more acutely aware of which bankers own relationships and which ones merely sit on a strong franchise. Subsequently, some bankers may well see a reduction in bonus just to subsidise the higher performing members of their own teams,” Matthew Osborne, partner at Armstrong International told the Financial Times.