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Jonathan Geiger was snatched up by Charles Schwab’s Upper West Side branch from another Wall Street firm, and now the headhunters are after him again.
Geiger is a financial consultant at the famous discount broker, and was previously a 12-year vet of JPMorgan, who worked in sales as a wholesaler with financial advisers before accepting his last job as a regional consultant for Tortoise Capital Advisors.
He left Tortoise for Schwab in October — and this time he said he has no plans to move. “I have been getting calls from recruiters,” said Geiger, 43, a resident of Bay Ridge. “But I’ve told them I am staying here at Schwab.”
Geiger’s salary and bonus is not at the level that its going to create headlines or Congressional inquiries. Yet even at this rung of the financial markets pay scale — $100,000 to $200,000 annually with the possibility of a 10 to 15 percent year-end bonus — there is plenty of movement.
The go-go days are back on Wall Street. Just last month Citigroup grabbed UBS’s Tim Wildenberg to head up its European trading operations in a move that should open up plenty of other moves in the coming weeks.
The labor market for financial professionals has perked up in the past few months as the Street recovers and grows. That’s amid signs more staff than ever before are prepared to job hop in search of higher salaries, career advancement, bonuses, fringe benefits and lifestyle.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said 630,000 financial-services professionals quit their jobs last year — a mammoth 25 percent year-over-year increase from 2009, when 504,000 workers packed up. Though the bureau doesn’t specify how many jumped ship for other positions, anecdotally, Wall Street executives say poaching is a big reason for calling it quits.
Not surprisingly, headhunters are moving in for the kill. “One of the first things I do today is hire staff away from the competitors of my clients,” admitted headhunter Kyle Ramkissoon, a principal at IJC Partners who recruits trading and technology staff for hedge funds. “I’m having a much busier year than last, hands down.”
Three-quarters of financial services professionals, in a new survey by eFinancialCareers, disclosed how they were cold called by a recruiter since the start of the year. The majority were prepared to move, most for the better opportunity.
Danny Sarch, who heads Leitner Sarch Consultants, a recruiter of financial advisers, attributes some of the hiring fever to the Street’s continuing crush with pros who can bring in tons of money. “No question, there have been some hot hiring deals out there,” said Sarch. Another recruiter, who headhunts financial services pros in other fields, is seeing his volume of searches expand each month. This headhunter, who declined to be named, said 2009 was a very low point as firms ruthlessly fired staff. “Some of the new hiring is by firms rebuilding departments as the Street recovers after the 2008 credit crisis,” he said.
In the retail brokerage space, the very best producers can command multi-million dollar rock-star salaries and fantastic perks. Geiger, a salaried employee on a more modest pay scale, is not complaining. “I made the change because of the culture and the quality-of-life issues,” he said. “I liked Schwab’s transparent platform and reputation, and it is focused on what is right for the client.”
Randy Ruger, a financial adviser with Edward Jones in Oradell, NJ, said he quit his job recently as an adviser at a major wirehouse — as it intensified its focus on the super rich. Ruger said he prefers serving customers with various levels of assets. Ruger is happy he accepted his new job. “I don’t have anyone holding my hand here, and I am not told how to position to clients,” he said.
With the signs of higher employee turnover, analysts say this puts Wall Street under the gun to loosen purse strings on compensation. It comes at a time when Main Street takes a dim view of hefty pay packages on the Street and as it rebounds from near disaster. But according to the latest eFinancialCareers survey, firms may need to start paying higher salaries to retain talent — because money talks.
Already, compensation for the best IT pros at hedge funds has surged in the past year some 30 percent, with pay today ranging from $150,000 to $180,000-plus, according to Ramkissoon. Forty percent of respondents said increased salary would be the best way to keep them from moving; 15 percent cited a better or guarantee bonus, while 13 percent said more stimulating work was good enough. A promotion or new title was mentioned by 9 percent.
Of course, when a talented employee quits, the replacement cost can’t be completely measured in dollars, said Constance Melrose, managing director, eFinancialCareers North America, operator of the eFinancialCareers.com Web site. Melrose said there are the intangible costs of finding and training a replacement hire. The blow to morale when a key staffer moves can unleash an exodus of other employees, she added.