eFinancialCareers

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft laid off 96 U.S. and UK lawyers this week. All but a handful worked in its real estate finance and securitization practices. The New York-based firm, whose rapid growth in recent years stemmed from tying its fortunes to booming mortgage-backed securities issuance, becomes the latest large law firm to undertake mass layoffs after the boom turned into a bust. This is round two for Cadwalader, which cut... Read more

State Street Corp. and Fidelity Investments, two of the biggest financial employers in Boston, are continuing to hire even as their counterparts in Wall Street lay off tens of thousands. Although statements by the two companies may offer some optimism for job hunters worried about how the economy is impacting New England financial firms, area companies aren't hiring at the rates they did during the recent boom market. The non-profit New... Read more

New York City officials see Wall Street bonuses shrinking more than 30 percent, while the state forecasts a more modest 20 percent pullback. In Chicago, risk management jobs are booming. *** With 2008 past the halfway mark, the latest year-end bonus projections point to a plunge of more than 30 percent from 2007 - an even gloomier view than three months ago, when Wall Street was digesting the Bear Stearns fiasco. The... Read more

Barclays Capital said it hired James J. Paris from Deutsche Bank to head its paper and packaging banking group, based in New York. As a managing director in the leveraged finance group at Deutsche Bank, he originated, executed and structured transactions for financial sponsors and corporate clients in the paper and packaging sector. Paris began his career as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He received a law degree from... Read more

As the credit markets continue to deteriorate and large financial institutions tighten controls, a number of Chicago firms are seeking risk management professionals in many specialties. "Risk management is certainly an area where there is hiring," says Gene Starr, president of New York-based E. D. Starr & Company, a recruiting firm that specializes in management consulting and risk management. "Risk management is counter-cyclical and right now there is a strong need."... Read more

Sure, the sub-prime mess probably means it will be a while before there's resurgence in credit jobs. But if you read beyond the headlines, the future may be bright after all. Lost in Wall Street's stream of billion dollar write-offs are big-picture themes like globalization and regulation, which continue to produce opportunities for financial professionals, writes Andrea Kay, author of Life's a Bitch and Then You Change Careers: 9 Steps to... Read more

Canadians working in the securities industry don't want their work to be their life, or their life to be their work - even at a time when employers are trying to do more with less. Twenty six percent of CFOs recently polled by Accountemps said heavy workloads were the greatest source of work-related concerns for finance and accounting professionals in Canada. Work/life balance ranked second in the survey of 270 finance... Read more

With 2008 past the halfway mark, the latest year-end bonus projections point to a plunge of more than 30 percent from 2007 – an even gloomier view than three months ago, when Wall Street was digesting the Bear Stearns fiasco. New York City's comptroller sees bonuses shrinking "in excess of 30 percent" this year, Frank Braconi, the chief economist in the comptroller’s office, told the New York Times. "That would amount... Read more

New York Governor David Paterson estimated that Wall Street bonuses will shrink 20 percent this year, severely denting the state's financial outlook. The 20 percent figure is within the range of estimates released earlier in 2008 by private-sector forecasters such as Johnson Associates. Despite the housing slowdown last year, Wall Street professionals raked in $33.2 billion in bonuses for 2007 - only slightly below 2006's $33.9 billion, according to the... Read more

In the current market environment, like any other, the decision to leave a company isn’t always yours to make. But what if it is? For many senior level employees at global firms, the choice between leaving a sinking ship or sticking it out for the long haul presents many challenges. First, it’s important to consider whether you are up for the task of starting anew and assimilating into a new... Read more

Freddie Mac Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Syron received nearly $20 million in compensation last year, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing comes a week after the government proposed legislation that would make possible a federal bailout of Freddie and Fannie Mae amid liquidity concerns and plunging stock prices. Combined, the two largest government-sponsored mortgage institutions own or guarantee $5.2 trillion of U.S. home... Read more

Fund management firm American Century adds a five-year lookback period to bonus formulas. Global banking group's report calls for tying pay to risks taken. Financial firms pull back IT outsourcing amid slower spending growth. *** American Century Investments will restructure its bonus system for portfolio managers by adding a five-year performance component and comparing their returns with a benchmark instead of a peer group, according to Fund Action newsletter. The move will... Read more

The market for investment consulting jobs in Chicago is strong, with the institutional market holding steady and jobs for consultants who can serve individual clients growing rapidly in both retail and boutique firms. "The job market for investment consultants has been increasing," says Erin Polczynski, division director in the Chicago office of Robert Half International, an executive search firm specializing in financial services. "We have a quite a few positions for... Read more

The Institute of International Finance is recommending Wall Street' securities firms make their pay practices more transparent and tie compensation more to market risk. Earlier this year the group was reported to be drawing up a wide-ranging recommendation to revamp, among other things, the way bonuses are awarded. Its 200-page report claims to establish "best practices" for banking industry compensation. By aligning pay with risk-adjusted performance and adopting the report's... Read more

The financial sector may be rethinking the idea of IT outsourcing as a long-term strategy. Computer Economics, a research firm based in Irvine, Calif., believes the financial industry is pulling back on outsourcing projects and bringing many IT operations in-house. The firm conducts an annual survey that benchmarks IT operations trends, staffing trends and salary trends in a variety of industries. "This is peculiar to the financial sector," says John Longwell, the... Read more

You're a private-client relationship manager responsible for $300 million in assets, but your employer is trimming both bonus allocations and back-office resources that support your activities. What are your choices? If you work for a large institution that's retrenching amid the credit crunch, jumping to a private-wealth boutique could be a viable option. Or, a mid-career private wealth manager whose current business is stagnating might think about relocating to a high-growth... Read more

American Century Investments will restructure its bonus system for portfolio managers. The move will reward the firm's best performers with stock options and tie incentives to long-term performance. The newsletter Fund Action reports the firm is adding a five-year performance component and will measure performance based on a benchmark rather than a peer group, as it currently does. The plan represents one method in which the mutual fund manager is exploring... Read more

Newly launched hedge funds raised 40 percent more capital through June, but the number of launches fell 50 percent from 2007. London-based i-bank Collins Stewart is adding staff in New York. Compliance hiring upturn bypasses Chicago. *** Only half as many new hedge funds began trading in the first six months of 2008 as in the same period last year, with the largest launches grabbing a bigger share of new capital raised.... Read more

Goldman Sachs recently opened a hedge fund administration office in Toronto, Ontario's provincial government announced early this month. The number of jobs was not disclosed either in the announcement or media coverage of it. "Goldman Sachs has opened its newest Goldman Sachs Administration Services (GSAS) office in Toronto with Fund Accounting and Investor Servicing areas of its hedge fund administration operations," said the statement from the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development... Read more

Talk is heating up that State Street Corp. is planning to move some of its workforce to the Boston suburbs. The Boston Business Journal reports the giant custodial bank is considering occupying as much as 800,000 square feet of office space outside the city, and may build a suburban campus. Among the possible locations is Westwood Station, a $1.5 billion development being constructed in Westwood that will include retail space, three... Read more