Why Big Banks Are No Longer the Place to Get Paid on Wall Street

Goldman Sachs still pays employees astonishingly well, though private equity and hedge funds pay better in many cases.

For the first time in a generation, Goldman Sachs is no longer the obvious place to go to get the best compensation, according to pay consultant Alan Johnson. Pay for traders was down 10-15% for the third or fourth year in a row in 2014, Johnson says. Pay recovered in investment banking, however, rising 15% on average, while staff jobs were flattish. Overall it was a moderately down year on Wall Street, Johnson says. Goldman continues to be one of the better paying firms but “for the first time in a generation" it’s no longer the obvious place to go to get extremely well paid. Asset managers now make more than their counterpoints on Wall Street. The Wall Street pay bubble was unsustainable but it is now below the longer term trendline, Johnson says, adding that bank capital requirements have been an important factor in keeping pay down.