Moelis & Co.: many chiefs, lots of Indians

Yesterday, Moelis & Co. released its first set of results since going public. Three things were notable:

1. Moelis increased total compensation for its employees by 62% last year, paying its 404 employees $70.4m, or an average of $160k each.

2. Moelis has a compensation ratio of 62%.

3. Moelis has 317 bankers and 87 managing directors.

From this we decide that:

1. Moelis pays well (Goldman Sachs paid an average of $123k in the first quarter).

2. Moelis diverts an abnormally proportion of its revenues to pleasing its staff (something which could be bad news if, for exampe, Moelis' loses a very large chunk of revenues when one of the deals in its pipeline blows up).

3. Moelis has a lot of (highly paid) senior bankers, who account for 30% of its total and probably account for a high proportion of its high pay.

We spoke to a former analyst at Moelis. He said it was great there: you get good access to senior staff. Less favourable were the working hours. "I used to sleep in the toilets at times," he confessed.