BofA May Increase Salaries for Investment Bankers (by as much as 70% - bonuses lessened...)

[The Straight Story]

Bank of America May Increase Salaries for Investment Bankers

By Jacqueline Simmons and Josh Fineman

March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of America Corp. plans to increase some investment bankers’ salaries by as much as 70 percent following the takeover earlier this year of Merrill Lynch & Co., people familiar with the proposal said.

“The concepts we are considering would not increase total compensation,” Brian Moynihan, Bank of America’s president of investment banking and wealth management, wrote yesterday in a memo to employees obtained by Bloomberg News. “Rather, we believe it is responsible, and consistent with the emerging public consensus, that a greater percentage of overall compensation come from fixed base salary.”

Bank of America, which has received $45 billion of taxpayers’ money, may raise the annual base pay for some managing directors to about $300,000 from $180,000, said the people, who declined to be identified because the final numbers are still under discussion. Salaries for less-senior directors would climb to about $250,000 from $150,000, and vice presidents would get $200,000, up from about $125,000, the people said.

Bonuses will become a “smaller” portion of total compensation, Moynihan wrote in the memo. The adjustments, which may be rolled out as soon as next month, are designed in part to align the salaries of employees at Charlotte, North Carolina- based Bank of America with workers at New York-based Merrill, one person familiar with the plans said. Salaries for traders and other employees outside the investment bank may also be adjusted, the person said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aFralhXgxzDs&refer=news

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Well that is right in line with everyone else's wage increases.

I got a 70% raise this year too. Didn't you?

:wtf:

[The Straight Story]

3. Well, I was unemployed at the start of the year :)

So I am making a lot more now! :rofl:

[strategery blunder]

2. No, "emerging consensus"

is that bankers should take responsibility for their own fuckups and stfu.

NO INCREASE IN COMPENSATION OF ANY KIND. :grr:

[Uben]

4. Pay should be based on performance.....

...if you don't produce, you don't get paid. These bankers want their money if they produce or not. I say fire the lot of them and get some people in there who can make money without gaming the system!

[spindrifter]

5. B.S.! None of them deserves such outrageous

salary increases. The directors of the Bank need to reign this in or the government needs to intervene.

[AndyA]

6. They're like heroin addicts. They just can't control themselves.

More money, more money, more money. They just need to be forced to stop. $180,000 salary is a good salary in pretty much anyone's book.

[Mike 03]

7. At least this is more honest

My father used to be an investment banker at Bank of America (a bank analyst) and although his salary was moderate, the bonus was intended to supplement and make it respectable enough he could actually afford to send three kids to college.

To me it is logical that people have a salary they can depend on, and that any bonus they receive should be moderate, representative of performance, appreciative, but not embarrassing or exorbitant.

ON EDIT:

The point is it's silly to pay someone $50,000 for a $300,000 job, and then award him a $300,000 bonus at the year's end. It just adds to everyone's anxiety and it took years off my father's life, being held hostage by some ephemeral bonus that might or might not materialize.

[bluesbassman]

11. I agree with your point Mike.

The problem is that a lot of these $300,000 jobs ain't worth $300,000. The only reason they made that much in bonus was because they manipulated the trading to make it appear there was more value. This also caused problems in other areas of the economy. A $250,000 house is only worth $1,000,000 because someone with a $75,000 job is making $300,000.

Note that I'm not saying your dad didn't earn what he was paid. Hell, I'm on 100% commission, I know what anxiety there is in not knowing what your next check will be. What I am saying is that the financial industry has created a work to compensation scale that's out of whack.

[bluesbassman]

8. Well, at least they're being honest now.

They're going to pay themselves big bucks no matter how bad they screw up. Wonderful.:sarcasm:

[Regret My New Name]

9. So what about the hourly BofA employees?

I take it they get pink slips?

[The Straight Story]

10. some, but to raise the rest of the money will just charge more fees

:)

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Wonder how many of us here use BOA?????

cards or bank.

[JerseygirlCT]

13. I was waiting for that

The next logical step after "retention award" didn't fly.

But why in the world would someone in NC expect the same salary as someone in NYC? I highly doubt Charlotte has anything near NYC's COL.

[The Straight Story]

14. I would guess the reason why is this:

Eventually the people in NY will complain about it and threaten to leave, to retain the talent they will have a new excuse to raise their pay.

It is like giving them bonuses but breaking up the pay over all the paychecks for the year :)

[JerseygirlCT]

16. Yup. nt

[rucky]

15. They're just going keep playing games.

until we bust them up