Steady increase in pay for North American equity derivatives specialists, reports Greenwich

Compensation to equity derivatives investors increased steadily last year, according to research by Greenwich Associates, a Connecticut-based consulting company.

Total cash compensation for equity derivatives traders increased from $305,000 to $315,000, said Greenwich. The equivalent figure for equity derivatives portfolio managers rose from $565,000 to $585,000, while the figure for ‘derivatives specialists’ – defined by Greenwich as an equity derivatives investor that is neither a trader or a portfolio manager – increased from $365,000 to $380,000.

“While the salary averages between 2001 and 2002 indicate some professionals received slight salary increases, the biggest boost to compensation appears to come from the 2002 bonus payout,” said Greenwich.

For equity derivatives portfolio managers, Greenwich found that the average bonus reported in 2002 was $265,000, up from $250,000 in 2001. For traders, the average bonus was $140,000 in 2002, up from $130,000 in 2001. And for derivatives specialists, the average bonus was $250,000 in 2002, compared with $240,000 the year before.

Greenwich said it interviewed 129 equity derivatives portfolio managers, traders and derivatives specialists at hedge funds, pension funds and investment organisations throughout the US and Canada between January and March of this year.