By Lawrence Delevingne and Imani Moise
NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Fruit smoothies may become the
new martini for Wall Street holiday parties.
Banking and trading firm BTIG LLC, for example, cut alcohol
from its annual employee celebration on Dec. 12 at its New York
offices. Instead, guests did yoga and bootcamp-style workouts,
played ping-pong, and downed smoothies, juices and fruit-infused
water.
“I’m sore, just in a different way,” joked a happy BTIG
employee the morning after donning Lululemon fitness gear to
compete with colleagues. “My head doesn’t hurt; my body hurts.”
BTIG is an outlier on Wall Street, but interviews with some
employees, events staff and those who work in the wellness
industry suggest more companies are moving their holiday parties
and other events away from booze-centric bacchanals.
Younger Wall Street employees are increasingly health
conscious, and companies are attuned to the liability of
alcohol-laden corporate events in the #MeToo era.
“You can’t go wrong with what we did,” said the BTIG
employee.
The Pierre, a luxury hotel near Central Park, featured
specialty "mocktails" at holiday parties for approximately half
a dozen financial firms this year, part of broader increase in
demand for such non-alcoholic cocktails, according to director
of catering Bill Spinner.
Barry’s Bootcamp, a fitness club chain popular with Wall
Street, has seen an increase in bookings by financial firms for
employee and client workouts this holiday season, according to
director of community marketing Alisa Holzer.
The emerging trend on Wall Street echoes similar events in
the technology industry, with which it increasingly competes
with for talent.
Seedlip, which makes non-alcoholic spirits, recently hosted
a 1,200-person Google holiday party at Rolling Greens
Nursery in Los Angeles, serving approximately 700 “Holiday
CosNOs” and other alcohol-free cocktails, said spokeswoman
Lorena Tapiero. Seedlip beverages were also served at a recent
Netflix employee gathering in LA, she said. Google and
Netflix did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Even as some employees embraced workouts and
mocktails, alcohol flowed across much of Wall Street this
holiday season. The bars were stocked and open at New York
soirees organized by BlackRock Inc, D.E. Shaw & Co,
JPMorgan Chase & Co, Evercore Inc, HSBC Holdings
Plc, and Credit Suisse Group, according to
attendees and social media posts. The parties featured such
amusements as a limbo contest and professional contortionists.
The firms declined to comment or did not respond to requests.
An employee who attended one of the parties described it as
“merry and lit.”
(Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne, Imani Moise and Elizabeth
Dilts Marshall in New York; Editing by Lauren LaCapra and Lisa
Shumaker)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)