Bonus Watch '15: Morgan Stanley To Pay Employees More Actual Real Live Bonuses
The kind you can use to buy stuff today, rather than the look-but-don't-touch-until-we-tell-you variety the firm was partial to several years back.
James Gorman’s bank is paying its workers more up front as it seeks to bring compensation in line with competitors. Morgan Stanley lowered the portion of bonuses it will defer to 50 percent, down from a peak of 100 percent in 2012. That’s still high relative to rivals, CEO Gorman said during a conference call Tuesday to discuss fourth-quarter results. But, he added, “it continues to tie our employees to the firm.” Last year, the bank set aside more than $5 billion for compensation and benefits, or an average of $91,500 per employee. That’s up from about $71,500 during the last three months of 2013.