Most investment banks increased pay for their staff relative to revenues and profits last year despite political and regulatory pressure to reduce bonuses, according to analysis by Financial News.

The research suggests that staff at investment banks are feeling less pain than their shareholders. Across a sample of eight banks that provide comparable data, the average compensation cost per employee last year was $405,777. This was a fall of 0.5% compared with 2009. Over the same period, the average revenues generated per employee fell by 7% and pre-tax profits per employee fell by 8%.