This could be a good year for job seekers in the financial sector. The latest eFinancialCareers survey released today found that nearly two out of three (62.1%) financial professionals plan on moving to a new employer in 2011. Moreover, four out of five (80.5%) say their current employer has not offered them any positive incentives to stop them from jumping ship. Perhaps an even more important statistic in terms of... Read more

Other than not getting selected as a possible candidate, nothing’s more painful than the feeling that you’ve left money on the table. If you’ve been lucky enough to get a job offer, or if you’re one of the ones in the final running, it’s probably time for your prospective employer to turn the tables on you. It’s the question you know they’re going to ask. What salary and take are... Read more

HSBC hired Bertrand Delgado as an emerging-markets strategist, luring him away from Roubini Global Economics. [Bloomberg] Goldman’s John Rogers was promoted to executive officer from chief of staff. [DealBook] The SEC named Julius Leiman-Carbia associate director to its broker-dealer examination program. [Investment News] UBS named Paul Knight as the global head of its metals and mining group. [DealBook] Nomura hired Mark Leahy as head of debt origination and fixed income... Read more

Hedge funds, investment firms and wealth management firms are on a hiring spree—scouring for due diligence analysts. But no matter the firm, fund, and products, the job’s basically the same. The job title may vary, as with many financial posts. But in a nutshell, it’s about mitigating operational risk. Hedge funds, in particular, seem to be keenly interested in senior-level due diligence specialists and analysts. A cooperative spirit is certainly a... Read more

If you were an investment manager for the Texas State Teacher Retirement Fund you made out like a champ this year, being among a select group of fund managers who received more than $8.2 million in bonus payments. According to a report in the Dallas Morning News, teacher pension fund managers received more than double what top employees in every other state agency combined have received since 2007. To add insult... Read more

Cry me a river, right? According to Fortune, Goldman’s per capita compensation is down 11% to $147,825, as the firm’s first-quarter revenue fell 7% for the three months ended March 31. Meanwhile the bank grew its staff by 7% - meaning there were far fewer funds to go around. Says the magazine: “But if Goldman matches Wall Street's 2011 revenue estimate of around $38.5 billion and pays out the same... Read more

Three areas of the country not usually associated with finance are emerging as financial markets centers - Salt Lake City, Seattle and the Raleigh-Cary region of North Carolina. For example, Goldman Sachs’ second largest office in North America is in Salt Lake City, and the Wall Street powerhouse plans to continue growing there. For job seekers, that could mean additional opportunities in investment research, investment management, compliance, operations, technology, human... Read more

Low-cost portfolio managers that sell prepackaged portfolios such as MarketRiders and Folio Investing are being eyed as the new wave of investing, as such products have attracted more than $3 billion in assets over the last three years, according to Businessweek . These services are designed to tap the market of attract smaller, self-directed investors with monthly fees as low as $10 -- an underserved group, as traditional brokerages... Read more

Jefferies Group is growing by leaps and bounds, with recent news of plans to buy Prudential’s 400-person commodities and financial-derivatives unit for about $400 million, according to the Wall Street Journal which writes: “The potential transaction underscores the ambitions of Jefferies to grow from a securities-industry boutique focused on stock trading into a full-service investment bank that helps clients raise money and trade stocks, bonds and derivatives, where investors and... Read more

Banco Santander topped Bloomberg's inaugural listing of green banks thanks to its in-house conservation efforts and focus on eco-minded deals. Goldman Sachs came in No. 2 overall and topped the list in green investing. The Madrid based bank has closed 40 energy-related deals so far this year, 90 percent of which were in renewable energy. The ranking of 188 banks worldwide with market capitalizations of at least $10 million was based... Read more

It seems like the old boys’ network is alive and well on Wall Street, if only because guys know how to make one another feel like part of the team even before a relationship’s been established. Connie Thanasoulis-Cerrachio, head of career coaching firm SixFigureStart, recently observed this clearly when she and some colleagues interviewed asset management analyst recruits from top undergraduate colleges and universities. Some of the male interviewers greeted... Read more

Although Barclays refuses to comment on a UBS analysts report suggesting the investment bank consider relocating from London to dodge British capitgal rules, New York City Mayor Bloomberg is rooting for a move to New York City. According to the New York Times, Bloomberg has not offered any incentives but quotes him as saying: "I hope they move here; it'd be great for us.” Both London-based UBS and Standard Chartered have... Read more

The M&A market is headed for even better times, according to a new study examined by the New York Times [NYT] Of the 40 top M&A bankers and lawyers surveyed by the PR firm Brunswick Group, 92 percent said they expect the rest of this year to bring continued strong growth in mergers and acquisitions. Much of that confidence can be attributed to the proposed mega merger of AT&T and T-Mobile.... Read more

U.S. retirement savings are expected to balloon to $4 trillion in the next four years, and Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are beefing up staff, creating new technology and competing on fees to compete with account managers like Fidelity and Vanguard, says Bloomberg. To wit: JP Morgan in January named Michael Falcon to its newly created position as head of retirement in the U.S. and Canada for... Read more

If you're an energy trader, it's a safe bet that you're a bit worried about your job. Overall, due to tech and the big players taking over, there's fewer jobs. Plus, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is just about ready to announce position limits for physical commodity derivatives as mandated by Dodd-Frank. That, and expected regulation in the EU, is sure to shake things up. "There's been some downsizing already, but... Read more

Private equity deals are on the rise, but a buyout bubble could soon emerge. [Money Control] M&A is surging among large corporations, but the middle-market lags behind. [Dealbook] Panel rules Morgan Stanley must pay Merrill Lynch $1 million in damages for illegal recruitiment of brokers. [WSJ] Companies are adapting new investor relations strategies aimed at improving outreach to hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds. [

So, junk bond issuance hit a record for October - an amazing development. Will that mean a flood of hiring in high yield issuance/advisory? No, says one high yield analyst. "I don't see (those firms) adding bodies." The next question - will the inevitable crash of some of this debt come in the next few years? An increase in headcount won't occur until the junk that's being issued defaults. What junk... Read more

Thinking about going back for an MBA after getting canned? You’ve got company. It’s hard to consider a large outlay of cash when you’ve lost your job, but for the cream of the crop at top business schools, job placement remains easy. The return on investment for the rest of the MBA grads out there remains to be seen. In 2010, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business sent the... Read more

Describe your career path. I began as a physics and astrophysics major, and switched to comparative religion, graduating from Harvard. Afterward, I taught religion at Milton Academy in Boston, and later went to Harvard Divinity School. There, I became fascinated with applied ethics. I was interested in the intersection of finance and ethical issues, and various courses I took in graduate school turned me on to thinking about the role of... Read more

Morgan Stanley Employees Do Not Appreciate Management’s New Cheapskate Mentality [Dealbreaker] A tipster to Dealbreaker says Morgan Stanley is scrutinizing travel budgets and company credit cards, and eliminating niceties such as first-class air travel. "The most annoying part is the constant reminder we’re spending too much," says the correspondent. "Not classy." Top Goldman Sachs Execs Make Millions on Stock Sales [Daily Finance] Goldman Sachs says CEO Lloyd Blankfein, President Gary Cohn and... Read more