It is not what you do, it is where you do it, at least when it comes to fixed income. That is one of the many findings by a joint study on asset management compensation conducted by Greenwich Associates and Johnson Associates. The researchers discovered that institutional fixed-income professionals make more working for hedge funds than traditional institutional asset management organizations. Last year the average annual compensation for hedge fund fixed-income... Read more

It’s a dismal year for bonuses, but one bright spot has appeared. While Wall Street bonuses are expected to drop by 20 to 30 percent this year, Credit Suisse recently sent a memo telling employees that less of their bonuses will be deferred, putting the bank in-line with competitors, according to DealBook. Employees with total compensation of 250,000 Swiss francs – or $273,585 – would see any compensation above this level... Read more

Fixed income traders will be hardest hit by declining year-end incentive payouts this year, says compensation consultant Johnson Associates. The New York-based firm reports today that for the second time in four years, Wall Street professionals can expect to receive sharply lower year-end incentive pay as compared to the previous year. Johnson Associates’ third quarter compensation analysis shows that cash bonuses and equity pay will decline by an average 20 percent to... Read more

When it comes to handing out raises these days, companies are being downright stingy, but employers may be a lot more flexible than you’d expect when it comes to helping you repay your debt, a former Labor Department official and president of an educational organization for young Americans tells eFinancialCareers. The group—Arlington, Va.- based Generation Opportunity—recently issued survey results showing that young Americans today are delaying major financial and life... Read more

A recent defection of the top advisor team to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is expected to create quite a shake-up at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Longtime Merrill advisor and managing director Harvey Kadden recently joined MSSB, followed by other “Circle of Champions” Mihir Patel, Randy Knopp, Tim Baker and Chris Barber. The team had a combined production of over $14 million in the last 12 months and managed more... Read more

European governments have decided on several new measures aimed at containing the euro zone crisis, news media are reporting. European Union leaders held an emergency summit at European Council headquarters over the weekend, the 13th crisis management summit in less than two years, Bloomberg notes. “The new effort, which leaders hope to finalize at another summit on Wednesday, involves a sweeping recapitalization of European banks, a substantial restructuring of Greece's... Read more

Royal Bank of Canada is moving to an American-style, employee-driven retirement program as of January 1, 2012, when its defined benefits (DB) pension plan will no longer be available to new employees. U.S. investment banks have long ago washed their hands of these kinds of guaranteed pension regimes, which have been costly to employers while putting retirement savings and investment choices under the control of the employee. “I don’t know of anyone... Read more

J.P. Morgan’s investment bank cut employee compensation by 3 percent to an average of $289,611 per worker for the first nine months of the year, even as the division generated 10 percent more revenue over the year-ago period, according to The Wall Street Journal. The investment banking staff counted 26,615 people at the end of the third quarter – 1,101 fewer than at the end of the second quarter. Companywide the... Read more

Cantor Fitzgerald managing directors Jason Boyer, Brett McGonegal, Bradford Ainslie and Uwe Parpart resigned in May and joined Reorient Financial Markets, which is backed by China Chengtong Holdings Group, one of three asset managers under China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. [Bloomberg] Bank of America will pay former wealth-management division head Sallie L. Krawcheck $6 million after her dismissal last month. [Investment News] Frank Roccisano has been named complex... Read more

Expectations remain relatively high on Wall Street, especially among hedge fund employees, that this year's bonus will either outperform or match what they received last year. A new survey of financial markets professionals by eFinancialCareers has found that more than six in 10 (62 percent) expect their bonus this year will be higher or the same in comparison to the bonus they earned in 2010. The current level of expectation, while... Read more

In London, financial services jobs are down 19 percent, but fewer people are looking for work as the number of job vacancies at London’s financial services companies fell in September to the lowest this year, according to Bloomberg. Citing a survey by recruitment consulting firm Morgan McKinley, Bloomberg reports job openings in the London’s main financial district plummeted 19 percent to 3,843 for the month from 4,725 in the same period... Read more

In its new report on compensation practices, the Federal Reserve is charging major U.S. banks are falling behind in their efforts to link incentive pay to the risks they’ve taken on. But one New York-based recruiter suggests the Fed may be doing a bit of grandstanding. “England’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been particularly aggressive and proactive in terms of compensation,” says Richard Lipstein of Boyden Executive Search in New... Read more

Accordion Partners, the new firm known for offering project-based work to investment bankers who support private equity portfolio companies, I-banks and other firms requiring consulting services, enjoys bucking Wall Street tradition. On its Web site the company brags that weather permitting its employees are “the hardest working people in flip-flops.” Now, the firm is rolling out a few additional benefits for its family of professionals in its offices in lower Manhattan’s... Read more

As experienced wealth management advisors continue to make (or think about) the leap to independence as entrepreneurial Registered Investment Advisors—and as more RIAs seek to bolster their ranks following the 2009 market meltdown—some of the most sought after candidates have begun demanding pay schemes similar to those of the very banks they’re exiting. So says Dave Moran, a partner with Experienced Advisors Recruiting, LLC in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “In my world,... Read more

Bonus activity for year-end 2011 is looking up for finance execs, according to a survey of financial, insurance and real estate industry chief financial officers interviewed recently for recruiter Robert Half International’s latest employment report. The recruiter interviewed finance, insurance, and real estate CFOs who indicated they had paid bonuses last year. Almost half—48 percent—of a group of several dozen respondents who offered employees year-end bonuses in 2010 anticipate that bonuses... Read more

Most young Wall Street bankers are unhappy with their pay and many would like to work in private equity instead, Bloomberg reports, citing a survey by headhunting firm Capstone Partnership. While bankers actually enjoy their work, they feel they’re not being paid well enough considering the personal sacrifices they make. Out of 2,000 associates and vice presidents in their first three years who were surveyed, 67 percent said they were... Read more

Investment bankers will see bonuses increase from 5 percent to 10 percent this year, fixed income banking professionals will see incentive-based pay decline 20 percent to 30 percent, and equity asset managers might see no change this year to a slight 5 percent increase. This is according to Alan Johnson of New York-based compensation consultant Johnson Associates, who also estimates that independent fixed income manager incentives could increase as much... Read more

Bonuses for fixed-income and equities bankers will fall between 20 and 30 percent this year, eFinancialCareers reports, citing a study by pay consulting firm Johnson Associates. The estimate reverses Johnson’s study from May which predicted that bonuses would rise 10-15 percent. Higher ranking executives, meanwhile, would likely see their bonuses remain flat or fall up to 30 percent. “The new estimates are driven by a ‘lack of economic recovery’ as... Read more

Despite all the gloomy headlines about layoffs in the financial markets, there is some positive news for those of you who chose to follow a financial career path. A new survey released today shows that as a group, financial professionals received higher pay raises than their white collar counterparts in other industries. According to the survey conducted by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), financial executives saw their pay increases hitting... Read more

HSBC plans to lay off 30,000 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, many in the U.S., in an effort to boost its profits, The New York Times and other media reported. Europe’s largest bank also announced plans to sell 195 branches in New York State to First Niagara Financial Group for $1 billion. The news comes as the bank reveals details of a previously announced strategy to cut costs... Read more