eFinancialCareers

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

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

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 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

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

Globalization of operations, products and services means multinational financial services firms must redefine the nature of their diversity programs. But morphing inclusion policies present benefits and challenges to both companies and local employees. Globalization has changed the dynamic for firms looking to employ an old definition of diversity, notes Gerard M. Lupacchino, senior vice president for product development at Novations Group, a Boston-based provider of consulting and training services. In a... Read more

Goldman Sachs partner will replace GLG's emerging markets chief. More funds hire high-level distressed debt traders. A report says B of A may use lowball job offers to deny Countrywide staffers severance. Lehman will award mid-year stock bonuses. *** London-based hedge fund GLG Partners tapped Goldman Sachs Partner Driss Ben-Brahim to replace Greg Coffey, its chief emerging markets manager, who will leave in October. Coffey plans to launch his own hedge fund.... Read more

Lehman Brothers will award mid-year stock bonuses to its 26,000 employees. The Wall Street Journal describes the award as "essentially a down payment for 2008 compensation." The remainder of the year's compensation will be paid as cash and stock in January, the newspaper reports. The move was seen as an attempt to reward employees while the company faces tough times, and to take advantage of its stock price, which is now... Read more

Wall Street's job cuts to date have only scratched the surface of what would be needed to match historical benchmarks, such as revenue per employee. According to an analysis by financial sector research boutique Portales Partners, to restore profitability banks would have to slash headcounts by 20 percent if revenue reverts to 2004 levels. The research firm compared the growth in annualized revenue (adjusted for mergers and recent write-downs) and... Read more

Corporate development roles draw some dealmakers from Wall Street. Citi's Pandit overhauling bonus structure to boost cooperation among divisions. *** With strategic acquisitions a relative bright spot within today's lean mergers and acquisitions landscape, some laid-off investment bankers are landing as in-house dealmakers with their former corporate clients, observes theDeal.com. Research analysts are eyeing the corporate development arena, too. Still, even giant corporations' in-house deal teams are tiny compared with a... Read more

Citigroup reportedly is reshaping its bonus system to emphasize divisional cooperation and overall corporate performance. "We have to put a premium on partnership-like behaviour," an unnamed Citi executive told the Financial Times. The FT describes the change as a key plank in Chief Executive Vikram Pandit's strategy to revitalize the "universal banking" model by fostering synergies among investment banking, commercial banking and wealth management. Pandit reportedly asked Citi's HR chief to... Read more