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Notes -
Why aren't there more often shareholder revolts against the banks then?
A few reasons. Banks do actually generate very healthy returns for investors in good times, and most large investment banks are integrated parts of ‘universal’ banks like Bank of America and Citigroup that have large retail banking operations that print money when rates are reasonable and the economy is fine. So often, while an economy is overheating and investment banking deal fees skyrocket, retail banking profits shoot up too, which means as a whole investors have little to complain about. The margin on M&A (especially in the US where deal fees are very high) is also so high that there’s enough for everyone to come away happy.
The second reason is that bank stocks are like all equities largely owned by institutional investors, many led by portfolio managers / executives who themselves started their career on the sell side (in investment banking). They have an understanding that a handful of the best and most well-liked dealmakers and traders (and their ancillary junior staff) can represent hundreds of millions or billions of dollars of income for the bank, and are themselves paid extremely well anyway, so they’re reticent to complain about banker pay (ie. “If you think banks pay too much, wait until you see hedge funds/pension funds/etc”).
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