Lean pickings on the bonus front
As people working in the Australian funds management industry consider the size of their bonuses, they may reflect on the fate of their colleagues in the US and Europe where there will be slim pickings this year, according to a key investment bank spokesman.
The Reuters Finance Summit held in Boston this week was told by James Dunne, chief executive of Sandler O’Neil & Partners, that bonus season was going to be a lot gloomier on Wall Street this year as the credit crunch weighs on payouts.
“Through June we were thinking this would be a blockbuster year, but now you'll see bonuses under pressure,” he said.
The Reuters Summit was told by compensation experts Johnson Associates that, overall, US bonuses were expected to be flat, down 15 per cent this year.
And, according to the Options Group, it will be US financial professionals, who often count on bonuses to make up a significant portion of their compensation, who will suffer the most.
In Europe, the group expects bonuses to shrink by 5 to 10 per cent while the bonus drop in Asia will be as much as 5 per cent.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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