Lunchtime Links: Working for a small broker dealer is no longer sexy

Remember 2009? Remember all those smallish broker dealers that were hiring? Remember ICAP? Remember Evolution? Remember all the rest? Their popularity is waning, heavily.

Now that banks are no longer basket cases, Bloomberg points out that many of those who joined small broker dealers last year are having second thoughts.

It quotes Daryl Bowden, co-chief executive officer of ICAP's equities unit in Europe and Asia, who appears slightly cheesed off with the new state of affairs. "The banks are killing the boutiques," Bowden declared to Bloomberg. "They're doubling salaries and offering above-average compensation. Banks today have limited risk so people can work there without fear."

Jason Kennedy of search firm Kennedy Associates elaborated on small broker dealers' appeal manqué.

"Small broker dealers thought banks would be out for one to two years, which would give them enough time to create a strong client and business base, but banks came back a little too early for them," he told Bloomberg. "People [at smaller firms] are on an eat what you kill basis and they are now finding that the game's more difficult and it's got harder to kill," he went on.

Kennedy also said a lot of bankers in small broker dealers are now calling him and saying they want to go back to banking. He says this is partly because their comparative disposable income, "has gone down the toilet," now that banks have revised salaries. It's also because smaller firms don't have the infrastructure. Nor do they have the ability to take risks like banks. Nor do they have the clients. It doesn't look good.

Goldman's bonus day - January 18th? (Baseline Scenario)

Goldman Sachs is being sued by a shareholder who claims its bonuses are a waste of assets. (BusinessWeek)

Clawbacks are making it risky to spend bonuses. (Bloomberg)

RBS and Lloyds to discuss bonuses with the Treasury Select Committee next week. (Guardian)

UBS is getting back into LBOs. (Wall Street Journal)

More IPOs in China than anywhere else in 2009. (Wall Street Journal)

Dubai's aspirational oasis. (CNBC)

Michael Page wants to expand into Latin America and Asia. (Wall Street Journal)

Why bankers are like Jonathan Ross. (Financial Times)

If you talk to Americans in both New York and the West Coast, the view is absolutely uniform. They cannot understand why Britain is trying to kill the golden goose by the bonus supertax. (New York Times)

France ranks first for quality of life; UK ranks 25th. (International Living)