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- According to an annual survey by Wall Street recruiting firm Options Group, compensation is going to drop for just about every business line in trading.
- Those running electronic markets for fixed income and equities are the exception.
- Investment bankers should expect a 10% increase on average.
It’s not looking good for Wall Street traders.
According to an annual survey by Wall Street recruiting firm Options Group, total compensation for fixed income and equities professionals in the US will be down 7% from last year, on average.
The decline is steeper still for those working in certain business lines, such as credit, rates and cash equities. And there are few bright spots. Only foreign exchange trading (+1%) and those working in electronic markets for fixed income (+7%) and equities (+3%) are expecting to see a pick-up in their compensation.
The survey takes in the views of the top 25% of performers in each business line, and excludes the top 1%. They are asked what they expect to earn for 2017, which includes their base salary through 2017 and the bonus paid out in early 2018 for work through 2017.
That means there are some caveats to the numbers, which only takes into account the views of the top performers, and could be overly optimistic or pessimistic on bonus payouts.
Still, the numbers match up with Wall Street revenues. Fixed income, currency and commodities revenues at the top 12 banks were up 1% for the first half versus the same period a year earlier, according to Coalition, while equities revenues fell 3%. Third quarter revenues also disappointed, and Goldman Sachs CFO Marty Chavez said this week that the fourth quarter has been muted.
Here’s the guide from the Options Group report:
Options Group
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