How much am I worth? Emerging markets equity analyst

A panel of specialist headhunters give their assessment of typical London pay packages: Emerging markets equity analyst, international bank: salary 40,000 - 60,000 for junior staff, 90,000 to 120,000 for senior staff; bonus extremely variable

At first glance, being an equity analyst in emerging markets would seem to

be just what not to be in the current environment: equities are generally in

the doldrums, analysts are in the doghouse after the Merrill Lynch

and SSB scandals and many emerging markets have yet to recover from the

crises of the late 1990s.

"To be honest, I'd be surprised if any of these guys get a bonus this year:

if they're still employed, they're lucky to have their jobs," said one recruitment analyst,

preferring not to be named.

But as so-called mature markets have lost their shine - with indices heading

south and analyst recommendations increasingly treated with ambivalence -

the world of the emerging market equity analyst has in fact been far from

bad.

With Russia and other countries recovering, and corporate governance

and market transparency getting very much better, there is a thirst for

reliable and detailed company analysis and growing interest in emerging

markets asset management.

In Russia this has meant a strong focus on the oil companies (notably Yukos and Lukoil, the two largest), Rostelecom and consumer companies such as Baltika; in Asia, on those companies that have managed to maintain strong competitiveness and a solid export profile.

The analysts' lot has also been helped by the fact that many emerging stock

markets have easily outperformed their developed counterparts.

Although Latin America has done badly, the main Russian and Hungarian indices, for

example, have put the likes of FTSE and DAX in the shade. Even Asia

has recovered, with hedge funds in particular performing strongly there.

For this reason, basic salaries for some emerging markets equity analysts have

held up surprisingly well, while bonuses have hardly been a washout, though

admittedly some have been obliged to take a bath as the markets they cover

fail to recover.

"Certain emerging markets have provided solid returns over other markets:

this means analysts can expect bonuses to be anywhere between nil and 200%,

with top analysts getting 500,000 packages," says Mark Carruthers, a

consultant at Alexander Mann Global Markets (AMGM).

As ever, there is a flip-side to this generally upbeat picture.

With many one-time players in emerging markets having pulled out over the

past few years - notably the Dutch but also French and other European

banks - there are fewer analysts around, which means those actually in work

are having to work harder to prove their worth.

Complicating things further is the fact that Western banks - and analysts - are having increasingly to compete with indigenous financial institutions, notably in Russia,

which are keen to prove themselves and have increasingly attracted some

impressive analyst talent, much of it home grown.

"Moscow has grown up: its financial institutions are professional and

increasingly are paying the same as in London or other financial centres,

while living and other conditions are also on the up," says Taru

Oksman-Ison, a director at Principal Search.

In the view of many, this can only increase the pressure on

London-based analysts. Accustomed to visiting their key markets a few times

a year, many are now having to boost their knowledge of companies to show

their research is as thorough as that produced by home-grown banks and

research houses.

Contributors include Alexander Mann Global Markets (AMGM) and Principal Search