The mood in the Maserati dealership on the Old Brompton Road on Thursday was upbeat. That day
Goldman Sachs revealed its global staff was on track to earn about $700,000 apiece this year – and in this affluent corner of west London, a favourite spot for City types, the expectation is that some of that will find its way into the showroom. The dealership has already had a record September; it hopes the new year bonus round will herald a return to the time when the luxury Italian sports cars were selling at the rate of one a day.
Goldman – which announced earnings of $3.2bn , a near quarterly record – will not be the only US bank supplying custom to those serving the upper echelons of the market. A day earlier, JPMorgan Chase reported $3.6bn of earnings, close to the boom-time numbers achieved in 2007. UK banks such as Barclays and HSBC are also thriving. All are likely to pay big bonuses, arguing that if they do not, their best people will defect to the competition.
