Home ListingMarch 13, 2014

Wall Street Rakes in Third-Best Bonus Season Ever

Banks made it rain on New York City’s securities staffers in 2013, distributing $26.7 billion in cash bonuses.

Reported by Featured Author

(March 13, 2014) – Brokers, managers, and financiers in New York City enjoyed the third-best bonus season on record in 2013, according to an estimate from the state comptroller’s office.

Financial firms shelled out $26.7 billion in cash incentives last year—a 15% rise from 2012. Divided among the city’s roughly 165,200 securities industry employees, bonuses averaged $164,530 per person.

Despite the strong year, Wall Street’s employment and compensation figures remain well below their pre-crisis peak. In 2006, the fattest bonus year ever, the typical check was for $191,360. Securities industry profits plummeted in late 2007 with the onset of the financial crisis, but firms paid out $33 billion on top of salaries, or $177, 830 per employee.

These figures do not include stock options or untaxed deferred compensation.

Salary data are not yet available for 2013, but in 2012 the city’s financial types earned an average of $360,700 in total compensation. Including bonuses, they were paid roughly five times as much as the average New York City private sector worker earned ($69,200).

“Wall Street navigated through some rough patches last year and had a profitable year in 2013," said State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. "Securities industry employees took home significantly higher bonuses on average."

DiNapoli noted that although profits were lower than the prior year, "the industry still had a good year in 2013 despite costly legal settlements and higher interest rates. Wall Street continues to demonstrate resilience as it evolves in a changing regulatory environment.”