JPMorgan and the art of return-to- office politics

JPMorgan: office politics

The fast-evolving art of the back to office memo has already developed a few best practices. One is to keep orders informal so peer pressure can do the rest.

Jamie Dimon raised hackles this week by delivering a memo some saw as patronising and prescriptive. The JPMorgan Chase chief executive told staff that by early July, “all US-based employees will be in the office on a consistent rotational schedule”. Those who have forgotten how an office works were offered the opportunity to begin re-acclimatising themselves beginning on May 17.

“With this timeframe in mind you should start making any needed arrangements to help with your successful return,” staff were told in an internal memo signed by the bank’s leadership committee. “We know that many of you are excited to come back, but we also know that for some, the idea of coming back on a regular basis is a change you’ll need to manage.”

None of this played well in the outposts. Though London-based staff have yet to be served with a formal return-to-work notice, many have been checking in regardless to JPMorgan’s European headquarters in Canary Wharf since the UK’s stay-at-home rule ended on March 29. In an industry with a reputation for rewarding presenteeism, some employees worry that being measured by the New York attendance benchmark will cost them in salary and promotion opportunities.

Other institutions have tried to involve more carrot than stick. Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank have earned goodwill by hosting vaccine clinics for employees and eligible dependants at their New York offices. But brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald is said to have received pushback to a suggestion that staff will be expected to be at their desks four days a week.

Tekmar: depth charge

A warning on Thursday from Danish wind farm specialist Orsted of cable problems was serious enough to cause some ripples on the other side of the North Sea.

Orsted booked a first-quarter “warranty provision” worth £93m to cover cable protection system failures at as many as 10 of its UK and European offshore wind farm projects. The company said it was putting in place remediation measures to avoid having to replace the cables and estimated a total financial impact equivalent of about £350m.

Requests for comment received no response from Tekmar, the Darlington-based and London-quoted engineering group that for many years has been a key supplier of cable protection systems to Orsted.

Tekmar has a £31m market value and is a favourite of Andy Brough, head of the UK & European small and mid-cap team at Schroders Asset Management, which is its biggest shareholder with a 17.7 per cent stake.

Abrdn: altered perceptions

Though Standard Life Aberdeen’s decision this week to rebrand as Abrdn has been met with widespread derision in the financial world, the vowel-optimised asset manager has some support in its native city.

Aberdeen-based techno artists The Shamen found fame in 1992 with the hit single Ebeneezer Goode, which the BBC initially banned because of the “E’s are good” chant in its chorus. As a measure of public opinion, City Insider caught up with Colin Angus, a founder and ever-present member of The Shamen between 1985 and the group’s disbandment in 1999.

“Ditch standard life and drop three E’s, indeed a most commendable notion,” he said.

Meanwhile, talk that another of Aberdeen’s favourite sons had quit the city appears to be unfounded.

Martin Gilbert, co-founder and former chief executive of Aberdeen Asset Management, has been spending more time in Zurich since joining the board of Swiss-based commodities trader Glencore in 2017. Switzerland’s relatively light approach to Covid-19 restrictions met with Gilbert’s approval when he visited last year for Glencore’s annual general meeting.

But Glencore and Revolut, the fledgling bank Gilbert chairs, both scotched rumours of a permanent move. Contrary to recent speculation, they…