Bankers lament fashionistas' superior Christmas

For many people in banking, both in London and on Wall Street, this is the last day of work until January 6th. But while people in finance wind down for the Christmas break, the spectre (specter if you're in the U.S.) of an industry that really knows how to holidays is causing some ructions among bankers who are simply planning to eat and rest. 

To mark the season, the editors of Vogue Magazine have assembled a special piece on where they're going for Christmas and how they plan to spend New Year. For many people in banking, it is a thing of wonder: there are new bikinis everyday, private volcanic islands, Dior headscarves, cashmere tracksuits, massages and intravenous vitamin drips.  

"I wish my Christmas was like that," says one director at a bank in London. A partner at Goldman Sachs confessed that his main intention this holiday is to sleep.

While many London-based bankers will be returning to families in Europe, Vogue identifies Rye in Sussex (“London’s Long Island”) as the place to go if you're going nowhere on a plane and are curbing your carbon emissions.

In New York, one senior trader says plenty of senior people spend the immediate post-holiday period skiing "out west" with the their familes in Deer Valley , Aspen, Vail and Beaver Creek, Telluride, and Park City Utah. Others aim for the beaches at St Barth's, Anguilla and Antigua. 

In London, Abu Dhabi seems to be a favourite with headhunters this Christmas. Another said he's off to Mauritius where there are very few finance types but a lot of "families from Fulham." Next year, they might want to be a bit more inventive. Vogue's editors have all the tips.

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available. 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 libelous (in which case it won’t.)