Top China share traders are set to enjoy the spoils from year-end payouts, while their Asia fixed income counterparts and dealmakers will miss out despite a record year for mergers in the region, headhunters and senior bankers said.
Banks, including UBS and HSBC, saw a boom year in Asia stock trading, sources at those firms and recruiters said, thanks to a China buying frenzy in the first half of 2015 that pushed the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index up 47 percent from January to June.
Big payouts for China stock traders highlight the increasing divergence of bankers' variable pay, as global firms distribute a bonus pool shrunk by fines and weaker revenues among a smaller number of standout performers each year.
Profits from the first-half China stock market rally were strong enough to outweigh trading losses and slower sales during a summer market crash, headhunters said.
The fixed income business, though, has struggled amid higher capital costs, turbulent markets, and uncertainty over U.S. interest rate policy.
"Bonuses in Asia this year are going to be very polarized between equities and fixed income, even more so than last year," said Sarah Harte, a director at headhunting firm Sheffield Haworth.
Overall, bonuses in the equities investment banking business are expected to be broadly flat this year compared to 2014, as banks take a conservative position amid a gloomy outlook for 2016 due to the China downturn and regulatory costs, headhunters said.
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