Morning Coffee: JPMorgan employees are unhappy with their selection of perks. Blackstone people are back in the office after tragedy
If you work in the office for JPMorgan, it seems that the perks on offer are not what they were. Insiders on Reddit can be seen complaining about the disappearance of coffee cups, about lower subsidies in cafeterias and cheap beans in the coffee machines. One perk, however, seems to be causing particular discontent: the gym at JPMorgan's new Park Avenue headquarters.
It's not the gym itself that's the issue, it's paying for it. The New York Post reports that JPMorgan employees in New York have received a memo informing them that the fitness centre at 270 Park Avenue will have a charge. They were hoping it would be free. In its description of the building, JPMorgan says the fitness centre contains 'fitness areas, yoga/cycling rooms, physical therapy, medical services, modern mother’s rooms and prayer and meditation spaces.' The cost to employees remains unclear.
JPMorgan people are still griping after being made to return to the office five days a week. The facilities in Park Avenue are supposed to make office life more pleasurable. Supplementary to the fitness suite, they include an Irish pub, a special smell, circadian lighting and an art collection that reacts to passers-by. Excepting the Irish pub, these are presumably all free.
JPMorgan employees who are unhappy with spending on their gym, have not being paying attention though. Jamie Dimon, the bank's CEO, has long been known for squeezing gyms to cut costs. After JPMorgan and Bank One merged in 2004, for example, employees suffered the closure of all on-site gyms in the US and Europe as Dimon sought to cut costs. The presumption at the time was that they could use gyms nearby instead.
This may be what JPMorgan's New York employees decide to do again. Some have been observing that the nearby Equinox gym in the Grabyar Building is better anyway. Others have been eyeing up the perks at Goldman Sachs, which is all about mindfulness these days and seems to charge less for pursuing that at work.
Separately, Bloomberg reports that some Blackstone staff returned to their 345 Park Avenue office yesterday after last week's shootings, which resulted in the death of 43-year-old Wesley LePatner, who ran the firm's real estate business.
Blackstone isn't mandating a return to the office yet. Staff have until August 11th to return and the firm will offer counselling to those who don't feel comfortable returning by then.
LePatner was killed in the lobby while she waited for a friend, who then came down in the elevator and witnessed the aftermath of the attack. Jon Gray, Blackstone's chief operating officer, had a meeting with Le Patner earlier that day and spoke at her funeral.
Bloomberg said Steve Schwarzman, Blackstone's founder and CEO was one of the first to walk through the doors yesterday, while Gray stood in the lobby to greet people as they arrived.
Meanwhile...
Man Group asked 150 quants to come back in the office five days a week with an 8am start time. (WSJ)
Citi hired Vikram Chavali from Goldman Sachs to head global asset managers across the Asia-Pacific, as well as Deepak Dangayach from Deutsche Bank AG to be its co-head of debt capital markets for the region. (Bloomberg)
Citi also hired Aashish Dhakad from Ares to become head of private credit origination for North America. It's unusual for banks to hire from private credit. (Bloomberg)
Last week, Goldman Sachs salespeople told clients Trump was likely to go ahead with a 50% tariff on copper and recommended that they buy short-dated call options that would pay out if US copper prices surged 11%. Trump didn't impose the tariff and copper prices fell 22%. Goldman had to apologise. (Bloomberg)
European clients are wary of US banks. “Some players are saying that it’s better to go to European or French investment banks for advice on financing or mergers and acquisitions.” (Reuters)
"[Evercore] are adding the talent of Robey [Warshaw,] just in time for another surge in deals. We see pipelines are strong, and the outlook is getting better." (Reuters)
FIGMA's IPO was fine. VCs hold the whip hand over the investment bankers and could have demanded a higher price. The IPO valuation implies a deliberate choice driven by broader strategic considerations. A share price pop can create a narrative of success and momentum that can help with business development and talent recruitment. (Alphaville)
Several factors contributed to FIGMA's IPO price pop: During the process of gathering orders for stock, the banks asked for investors to submit a specific number of shares at a specific price, rather than market orders, providing more detailed information on the prices that investors were prepared to pay. The offering was also small, represented just 7% of the outstanding stock. (Bloomberg)
Schroders has written off its stake in US commercial real estate lender A10 Capital. (Bloomberg)
Everyone wants a private jet. (WSJ)
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Signal: sarahbutcher.22 Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com.
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.)
