Jefferies doesn't pay commission only, does pay big guarantees

According to a comment left on an article this morning, Jefferies may - possibly - be paying commission only packages to its European salespeople.

Unfortunately for star performers capable of leveraging the Jefferies platform, this does not appear to be the case. Various equities headhunters say Jefferies does not offer commission only packages. It does apparently offer biggish guarantees.

Symptomatic of these guarantees is said to be Jefferies' ability to attract top teams (admittedly not necessarily in sales) from other banks. In July, for example, it hired two prize oil and gas researchers from Macquarie.

"Oil and gas is such a hot sector right now that they could have gone anywhere," says one equities headhunter. "But Jefferies is writing the big tickets."

On the other hand, Jefferies doesn't appear to have whopped up salaries in line with some other banks. While MD salaries at various houses are now 300k, base pay at Jefferies is allegedly capped at 150k. The bank did not return a call for comment.