What are they doing about it? Considering their options, that’s what.
According to people familiar with the matter, a number of employees — including some of the bank’s most talented and highest-paid people — are feeling that they aren’t being fairly compensated for their work in helping the bank weather the financial crisis without having to be bailed out by the German government.
Sources said the frustration has the potential for creating a real headache for CEO Josef Ackermann, who runs the risk of losing talent in the bank’s trading operation, which is considered the second-most profitable behind Goldman Sachs. One group of bond traders that has already left over pay includes Jerry Cudzil and David Malvern, who were part of a team that took over a book of business from Deutsche Bank’s former head of credit trading, Boaz Weinstein.
Apparently management thinks it’s paying its employees just fine but is the victim of “an unusual wave of poaching from rivals like Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Credit Suisse.”
Regular Dealbreaker readers know that we spend a lot of time around these parts having the CFA v. MBA debate (well, not me, but some of you, amongst yourselves, in the comments, losing your shit). Today brings a point in favor of the b-school track, courtesy of Wharton. Apparently a bit of disagreement has been brewing between a group of students and the administration, re: whether or not the future business leaders of the world should be allowed to skip class in order to go on a ski trip to Park City. The administration says no, they shouldn’t, because it reflects disrespect for academic commitments, is discouraging to the faculty, creates a divide among the students going Wharton brand if this sort of thing go out to a) the rest of the Penn campus and b) the outside world in general. Obviously, the students wanting so badly to go on this trip saw things a bit differently and a dialogue ensued. For those of you who, after reading the full back and forth after the jump, would challenge the assertion that this case reflects a point for the MBA track rather than the CFA, I would ask you to show me the CFA program where you’re afforded the opportunity and downtime to say and draft stuff like:
* “The trip in no way takes away from Wharton’s rigorous analytical MBA program”
* “I honestly can’t think of a more rigorous or more analytical MBA program than Wharton’s.”
* “I am told that seasoned Wharton professors typically earn $250K or more per year. It would be nice if anyone in the administration held professors accountable for teaching quality.”
* “How can it be hard to defend the Wharton brand on the Penn campus when the Wharton brand is far more prestigious? Penn should be defending itself to us!”
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