Salary survey: Asset management staff in US win surprise pay increases

Asset management staff in the US who focus on equities have managed to secure healthy pay rises in the past year, in spite of weak share markets, a survey of US firms by the financial consultancy Greenwich Associates suggests.

The average bonus of US-based traders of European equities is 30% higher than a year ago, at $147,000 (€170,000), the survey shows. Their base salaries have risen from $132,000 to $136,000.

Melissa De Vries, marketing manager at Greenwich, said the results were a surprise: &quotI would have expected lower bonuses on the whole, to reflect the state of the markets."

The survey also looks at the pay of research staff - mainly portfolio managers, together with smaller numbers of directors of research, CIOs and research analysts. Those involved with European shares now have average salaries of $158,000, up from $151,000 a year ago. Their bonuses rose from $204,000 to $228,000.

The same categories of staff involved with US equities continue to earn far more than those handling European shares, but the increase was smaller. Their average salary now is $204,000, up from $196,000, while their bonuses average $403,000, slightly down from $404,000 last year.

The survey was carried out between November last year and February this year.

De Vries said firms may have kept pay high to retain staff, ahead of an expected rise in share prices. Some employees may also have received big pay rises after outperforming benchmark indices.

Headhunters said firms might have been able to pay high bonuses by cutting back on headcount and pay in other areas of the firm. The healthy pay figures could also reflect successful hedge fund operations at some of the firms surveyed.

Staff handling Japanese equities also received pay rises over the past year.

Those handling other Asian shares were losers, however. While salaries remained flat at $176,000, bonuses fell from $215,000 to $208,000.

All staff covered by the survey were based in the US and working for US asset management firms. Thirty-nine firms gave figures for staff handling European equities and 174 for those handling US equities.