How Presidential Election Results Will Impact Wall Street Compensation

Wall Street executives expect compensation practices to change markedly depending on whether President Obama or Mitt Romney win the November 6 presidential election.

[Read: The Executive Compensation Revolution Shows Some Timid Results to learn more.]

According to a survey of over 900 U.S. financial service professionals, nearly 6 in ten respondents (57%) believe the outcome of the election will have an impact on the compensation practice on Wall Street.

The survey found that an overwhelming majority of Wall Street executives – 72% - believe that Romney’s election would have a positive impact on compensation. On the contrary, 71% think that President Obama’s re-election would hurt pay in the industry. Meanwhile, 18 percent disagree and think that if President Obama wins a second term, this will be positive for compensation practices.

Overall, 59% of respondents said they believe the state of the U.S. economy will have the biggest impact on compensation practices. This was followed by Dodd Frank regulation (12%). Voluntary restraint by firms came in only third, followed closely by the Eurozone crisis (10%). The survey was completed between September 25 and October 3, 2012 with 911 currently employed financial markets professionals responding. Of these, 48 percent work in the front office, 27 percent in the middle office and 25 percent in the back office.

Melanie Rodier has worked as a print and broadcast journalist for over 10 years, covering business and finance, general news, and film trade news. Prior to joining Wall Street & Technology in April 2007, Melanie lived in Paris, where she worked for the International Herald ... View Full Bio