Morning Coffee: Sandy Leaves Wall Street Down But Not Out
Hurricane Sandy may have exited the eastern seaboard two weeks ago, but the destruction left behind is still reverberating down Wall Street, forcing firms throughout the financial district to operate without a real home.
Roughly 20% of major office buildings below Canal Street remain closed due to flooding and other damaged caused by Sandy, according to the New York Times. Buildings throughout lower Manhattan, once bristling with hurried bankers, are now occupied with hazmat crews and a handful of security guards hired to protect against looters, with no real timetable available for their reopening.
While no company will publicly admit its running at less than 100% efficiency, dozens of homeless firms surely are, with many packed into temporary conference rooms in New Jersey or Brooklyn, according to the Times.
Still, the financial district’s proximity to Manhattan’s waterways doesn’t seem to be scaring off any big names, despite the alarming pattern of powerful storms to hit the east coast in recent years. One big reason: the rent is much cheaper downtown than in midtown.
Despite Sandy, New York should have no problem holding its lead over London as the world’s largest financial center.
Investment bankers and traders are expected to see an 8% drop in total compensation this year, while those in fixed income will enjoy a 6% bump in pay.
Nothing complicated. UBS is slashing 10,000 investment banking jobs because it can no longer afford to “continue throwing money away” at a business that isn’t profitable, according to chief executive Sergio Ermotti.
E&Y Ramping Up (eFinancialCareers)
Big four accounting firm Ernst & Young expects to hire roughly 20,000 people in Europe, the Middle East, India and Asia in 2013.
Goldman Sachs is expected to name roughly 70 new partners this year, down from the 110 it named two years ago.
Goldman Sachs has confirmed it will close its South Korean asset-management unit due to underwhelming performance. Some of the 40 employees that make up the unit will be relocated to Singapore or moved to other parts of the bank’s Korean business.
Ivy Asset Management, a unit of Bank of New York Mellon, has agreed to pay $210 million to settle charges that it failed to conduct proper due diligence when advising clients who were invested with convicted Ponzi scheme artist Bernie Madoff.
Restructuring Looming (Financial News)
Dwindling trading volumes on U.S. equity exchanges will likely result in buyside firms and sellside brokers restructuring their businesses in 2013.
Buzz Around the Office
Comedian Janeane Garofalo and her ex-boyfriend, writer Rob Cohen, have been married for 20 years, although neither one knew it until recently.
List of the Day: What Not to Say
No matter how comfortable you feel with a co-worker, there are just certain things that you don’t say.
- The boss is a real jerk.
- How old are you?
- I’m so hungover.
