Wall Street's Shrinking Bonuses Smite Even the Successful
The dire times in the financial industry is starting to hit Wall Street where it really hurts: right smack in the bonuses.
Financial News reports that cash bonuses for senior management at JPMorgan are down. They used to make up half of bonuses (the other half being restricted stock), but now they only make up 25 percent. The new bonus structure was detailed in proxy filed with the SEC by the company. JPM has emerged as one of the stronger Wall Street houses, but things are tough even there.
Elsewhere, there are signs that even the more successful traders at big securities houses are seeing their bonuses trimmed. The blog Fierce Finance spelled it out, citing the publication Trader Monthly.
At top banks, a lot of traders also bet correctly but ended up with less in bonuses. The reason: Their banks struggled overall, and that forced some changes in the bonus structure. Normally, you keep a percentage of what you generate. However in these times, some traders, despite great performance, earned less. In essence, they took a bullet for the team.It seems if you want a big bonus you need to head for the hedge funds. John Paulson, a hedge fund manager who played the market turmoil to good effect brought home $3 billion, according to Trader Monthly.