Wall Street bonuses should be up about 8% this season and total $20 billion, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. But experts caution that this increase doesn't necessarily translate into much these days for advisors.
"Bonus season used to make a difference in the lives" of wealth managers and others, said Howard Diamond, managing director and chief operating officer of Diamond Consultants, a recruiting and consulting firm in Chester, N.J. "Now, with a de minimis amount being paid in cash and wealth managers waiting for longer periods of time to receive these awards," that's no longer the case, he says. "You can say that the large firms are giving bonuses to wealth managers but little of it is upfront," explained Diamond.
Bonuses on Wall Street, as tracked by New York's comptroller, peaked in 2006 at $36.3 billion, when the average bonus topped $191,300, and the total bonus pool hit nearly $23 billion in 2010, when the average bonus was close to $139,000. The estimated average per employee for 2012 (paid in early 2013) is about $121,900.
This data reflects both cash payments and deferred compensation for which taxes have been paid. Stock options and other deferred compensation, though, are not included. Deferred comp is an increasing way that bonuses are paid to those who stay with a firm through the vesting period, experts point out.
Morgan Stanley, for instance, decided in mid-January that employees who made more than $350,000 a year, like traders and investment bankers, and who were set to receive cash bonuses of $50,000 and up would have these payments deferred and also paid out with both cash and stock, a Reuters report said. This plan does not affect financial advisors; however, industry experts considered it a warning shot for the industry.
"In 2011, when the bonuses totaled $18.5 billion, one could assume that the $4.5 billion drop from 2010 may have stemmed from increased deferred compensation being given as a proportion of total compensation," said compensation consultant Andy Tasnady of Tasnady Associates in Port Washington, N.Y.
