Skip to search.

The New Wall Street: "Brain Drain" Threat Legit as Boutiques, Foreign Firms Rise

Posted May 22, 2009 12:22pm EDT by Aaron Task
Related: GS, JPM, MS, C, XLF, FAS, DB
Contrary to popular opinion and the view of many politicians, the "brain drain" issue on Wall Street is real, says Dave Kansas, author of "The End of Wall Street as We Know It."

Kansas, a Wall Street Journal contributing editor, notes the concurrent trends of foreign-born workers returning to their home countries and Wall Street's homegrown "risk-takers" joining smaller firms or opening their own boutiques.

In other words, when CEOs like Morgan Stanley's John Mack and Citigroup's Vikram Pandit complain about the risk of losing the "best and brightest" if the government imposes onerous restrictions on compensation, there's validity to their claims, Kansas says.

These trends - compensation restrictions, the rise of boutique firms, more competition from international competitors and big shops becoming more risk-averse - come in the wake of a largely self-made cataclysm that hit Wall Street in the past 18 months.

And Kansas notes it's "early innings" in terms of both the industry's transformation and the new regulatory environment that's certain to come down the D.C. beltway.

Go to Tech Ticker

There are no comments yet

Post a comment

Sign in to post a comment, or Sign up for a free account.
Quotes delayed, except where indicated otherwise. Delay times are 15 mins for NASDAQ, NYSE and Amex. See also delay times for other exchanges.

Quotes and other information supplied by independent providers identified on the Yahoo! Finance partner page. Quotes are updated automatically, but will be turned off after 25 minutes of inactivity. Quotes are delayed at least 15 minutes for NASDAQ, NYSE and Amex. See also delay times for other exchanges. Real-Time continuous streaming quotes are available through our premium service. You may turn streaming quotes on or off. Fundamental company data provided by Capital IQ. Financials data provided by Edgar Online. Historical chart data and daily updates provided by Commodity Systems, Inc. (CSI). International historical chart data, daily updates, fund summary, fund performance, dividend data and Morningstar Index data provided by Morningstar, Inc. Analyst estimates data provided by Thomson Financial Network. All data provided by Thomson Financial Network is based solely upon research information provided by third party analysts. Yahoo! has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. Yahoo! and ThomsonFN shall not be liable for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All information provided "as is" for informational purposes only, not intended for trading purposes or advice. Neither Yahoo! nor any of independent providers is liable for any informational errors, incompleteness, or delays, or for any actions taken in reliance on information contained herein. By accessing the Yahoo! site, you agree not to redistribute the information found therein.