Global Firms Pay Asian-Equity Analysts Nearly Twice as Much as Local Firms, New Institutional Investor Survey Finds

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - June 5, 2008) - Sell-side equity analysts at regional investment banks in Asia are often thought to have an edge when it comes to local knowledge, but those at global firms are the undisputed champions of compensation: Analysts covering Asian equities for U.S.- or Europe-based banks, earn total compensation that is on average 85 percent higher than that earned by analysts at regional firms, according to Institutional Investor's inaugural Asian Equity Sellside Compensation Report.

On the buy side, investment professionals at money management firms in Asia who perform double duty as analysts and portfolio managers earn about one third less in total compensation than those who perform only the duties of portfolio manager, according to Institutional Investor's inaugural Asian Equity Buyside Compensation Report.

Both reports are available today on www.iimagazine.com.

Sell-side

Asian-equity analysts at global firms earned, on average, $364,081 in salary and bonuses last year (paid in local currencies and converted to dollars for the purpose of comparison), while analysts at regional firms earned total 2007 compensation of $196,726, the survey finds. The ratio of salary to bonus is roughly equal at global and regional firms, with bonuses accounting for 63.9 percent of total analyst compensation at global banks and 64.1 percent at regionals.

Analysts across the board expect the pay gap to widen this year. Researchers at global banks project that their total compensation for 2008 will increase 21.8 percent, to $443,363, while analysts at regional firms anticipate a pay raise of just 13.7 percent, to $223,743. If these predictions prove correct, bulge-bracket analysts will earn 98.2 percent more than analysts at regional banks this year.

Buy-side

Last year, portfolio managers at money management firms in Asia earned mean total compensation of $589,819. That's $199,084 more than those working as both analysts and portfolio managers, who earned average total compensation of $390,735.

Compensation trends in Asia differ significantly from those in the U.S. and Europe, where performing double duty results in higher total compensation. In the U.S., analysts/portfolio managers earn more than twice as much as analysts. In 2006, the most recent year for which U.S. figures are available, the mean total compensation for analysts/portfolio managers was $345,064, compared to $165,150 for analysts.

Contact Information: Contact Information: Chris Cavanagh 212-224-3369 chriscavanagh@iimagazine.com www.iimagazine.com