eFinancialCareers

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

In the wake of IndyMac's collapse, fears abound that Charlotte's big banks could be next. Plummeting stock prices at both Bank of America and Wachovia are causing concern in the banking-centric city about possible failures at these banking giants, and the certain layoffs that would follow. Last month, B of A announced it was cutting 7,500 jobs as part of its acquisition of Countrywide and absorption of more than 50,000... 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

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. While fewer new fund launches may sound bearish for employment prospects in the sector, the immediate effect is likely only marginal, because hedge funds - especially new ones - tend to run very lean in headcount.... Read more

GLG Partners said it hired two Morgan Stanley veterans to shore up the group running its emerging markets hedge funds ahead of the pending departure of emerging markets chief Greg Coffey. Bart Turtelboom and Karim Abdel-Motaal will together manage London-based GLG's Emerging Markets Fund, Emerging Currency and Fixed Income Fund and Emerging Equity Fund. Turtleboom and Abdel-Motaal led Morgan Stanley's fixed-income emerging markets team. Coffey reportedly will leave GLG in October... 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

Job prospects at credit-focused funds got a little bleaker after SAC Capital announced plans to shuffle its Sigma Capital Management LLC unit. Bloomberg reports SAC Capital will close the fixed-income business at Sigma Capital. The $16 billion, Greenwich, Conn., fund company will eliminate eight jobs and reallocate some of its fixed income assets to equities. The cuts were made on June 30. Primarily an equity shop, SAC recently has scaled back... Read more

The flow of people and capital into the distressed debt investing sector continues to swell, as both banks and hedge fund managers target bargains among the wreckage left by the credit crunch and a possible recession. Anchorage Advisors LLC, a $7 billion hedge fund firm focused on credit and special situations, said last week it's hired Daniel Allen from Morgan Stanley. Allen, who was co-head of North American credit trading for... 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

A pair of moves has London's second largest hedge fund replacing a top manager and Goldman Sachs losing another trader to run his own fund. In the first, The Wall Street Journal reports GLG Partners has tapped Goldman Partner Driss Ben-Brahim to replace Greg Coffey, its chief emerging markets manager, who will leave in October. Ben-Brahim will lead the $1.2 billion emerging markets special situations fund now run by Coffey... 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