Half of financial professionals on Wall Street expect to get a higher bonus this year, and some of those expect a much bigger payout, according to an annual survey by financial job board, eFinancialCareers.com.
Eleven percent expect bonuses that are at least 50 percent higher than those paid out at the start of 2010, according to eFinancialCareers, a unit of Dice Holdings Inc, even though 2010 was seen as a “sideways” year for the stock market.
The survey included responses from about 2,100 financial professionals in the United States. One in five expect an unchanged bonus and one in 10 say their bonus will drop 71 percent, or will not be paid out at all.
Market conditions were most widely cited as a factor putting pressure on bonuses, followed by the Dodd-Frank law that tightens regulations of financial services companies. Voluntary restraint by firms is also seen dampening down bonuses.
Professionals with longer experience generally have lower expectations for bonuses, eFinancialCareers found. For those with 15 or more years’ experience, 38 percent expect no or diminished bonuses this year.