Wall St salaries rose for most workers in 2011

NEW YORK: Most Wall Street employees got higher salaries in 2011, with the biggest bumps going to those at boutique banks and alternative asset managers, according to a survey by efinancialcareers.com.

The online survey of 2,860 financial professionals found that 54% received salary increases – excluding bonus – and 40% reported no change from 2010, according to an emailed description of the survey’s findings.

Workers at so-called bulge-bracket banks got an average increase of 3%, compared with a 14% gain for people at boutique banks and a 13% raise for those at fund managers.

When year-end bonuses were included, the average pay last year fell for workers at companies including Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Jpmorgan Chase & Co’s investment bank amid declining revenue. As year-end bonuses dropped, some banks raised base salaries that in past years contributed just a fraction of pay for senior employees.

“Historically it’s always been

Historically it’s always been about bonus, and now we’re seeing that salary is another tool that firms have. — CONSTANCE MELROSE OF EFINANCIALCAREERS

about bonus, and noww we’re seeing that salary is another tool that firms have,” Constance Melrose, managing director of efinancialcareers North America, said in a phone interview. “The less variable component has become more important.”

Melrose didn’t identify the survey respondents’ employers. Bulgebracket banks included large diversified lenders and investment banks, and boutique banks were smaller, specialised advisory firms, she said. Alternative asset managers typically were hedge funds, Melrose said.

The survey, conducted from Jan 2 through Feb 16, found that 12% of respondents were “very satisfied” and 35% were “somewhat satisfied” with their 2011 salaries. Thirtyseven per cent reported being “very dissatisfied” or “somewhat dissatisfied”, down from 38% a year earlier.

While 35% of respondents said they planned to change firms this year, 55% said that a higher salary would persuade them to stay, according to efinancialcareers, a unit of New York-based Dice Holdings Inc.

“When you ask, ‘What would it take for you to stay?’ the No. 1 thing is salary,” Melrose said.

A survey released by efinancialCareers in February found that more than half of Wall Street employees said their year-end bonus met or exceeded their expectations.

The latest survey, conducted by email, started with 7,194 people and was pared to 3,819 to exclude certain respondents, including those who were students or unemployed. Of those who remained, 2,860 provided salary information, according to efinancialcareers. — Bloomberg