摩根士丹利CEO：华尔街未现人才荒

    显然，12.5万美元的年终奖对于某些华尔街人士来说并没有看上去那么令人沮丧。

    摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）首席执行官高闻日前在《财富》杂志（Fortune）早餐会上讲话时称，自从摩根士丹利将2011年年终奖上限定为12.5万美元以来，仅有两位高级雇员离职。年终奖走低（至少按华尔街标准来说是如此）的报道令人怀疑投行工作到底还值不值得追捧。有些人认为，这给了自负的投资银行家沉重的一击。《纽约杂志》（New York Magazine）有关这个话题的封面报道选用的图片是一个西装革履的、貌似银行家的人物紧紧地护着裆部。

    上个月，高闻说，对薪酬不满的员工“尽管走人”。但几乎没人离开。高闻告诉《财富》杂志编辑赛安迪，有人说“占领华尔街”（Occupy Wall Street）运动、华尔街减薪以及投行“鱼肉”客户等因素正在影响到投行的员工招募和留用，这种说法着实“可笑”。

    “这就好比曾经有人想进华尔街，但是后来接受了一些道德说教，然而打了退堂鼓。谁在乎？”高闻说，最近他在沃顿商学院（Wharton business school）演讲，前来听讲座的学生两间教室都坐不下。许多学生都穿着西装，上前来给他递名片。“很多朋友打电话给我，要帮他们的孩子找工作，这种事同样有增无减，”高闻说。

    最近，摩根士丹利向即将毕业的本科生和MBA学生们发出了录用通知书。高闻称，最终录用的比例在70%- 84%之间，大部分没有选择摩根士丹利的人最后都去了两大竞争对手那里。高闻称：“他们不会去其他地方。”

    而且，摩根士丹利也并没有出现员工离职潮。据高闻表示，自从摩根士丹利发放年终奖以来，1,800位高级雇员中只有两位董事总经理离职，“对此他表示遗憾”。一位董事总经理是在亚洲，转投一家对冲基金。高闻没有提到另一位。除了最高管理层，董事总经理往往是一家投行中最高级的职务之一。

    高闻认为，高盛（Goldman Sachs）前雇员格雷格•史密斯最近刊登在《纽约时报》（New York Times）社论版的文章有失公允。并称，（《纽约时报》）选登一位心怀不满的前雇员撰写的文章，“既不公平，也缺乏平衡性”。在他看来，高盛仍是一家受客户尊敬的公司。他告诫员工，不要为了抢生意而向客户散播这篇文章。

    像高盛一样，他说，摩根士丹利也常常会遇到有利益冲突的交易。高闻称：“它可能就发生在上周，在全球某个地方。”关于什么时候公司应该为避免利益冲突而退出哪宗交易，并没有绝对的规定。高闻称：“这也正是我们设立冲突委员会的原因。”

    当然，投资银行家还没落魄到要人同情的地步。摩根士丹利大部分员工2011年的薪酬都明显高于12.5万美元。除了现金年终奖，摩根士丹利的员工们都有固定薪水（且过去几年呈现上升之势），顶级银行家还会获得股票，股票价值就算没有几百万美元的话，少说也有几十万美元。

    高闻认为，美国经济显然正在转强，未来几年银行股的表现将强于标准普尔500指数。高闻称：“我们的实际状况大大好于当前股价所反映的水平。”

    译者：早稻米

    Apparently, getting a bonus check for $125,000 isn't as disheartening as it may seem to some on Wall Street.

    Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, speaking at a Fortune breakfast series, said his firm has lost only two high-level employees since capping year-end cash bonuses for 2011 at $125,000. The news of the low year-end pay, at least by Wall Street standards, has sparked griping that being an investment banker is not worth it anymore. Some have said it was a big ego blow. A New York Magazine cover story on the topic had a picture of a person in a suit, presumably a banker, holding his crotch.

    Last month, though, Gorman said employees who were unhappy with their pay "should just leave." Few did. Gorman told Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer that the idea that Occupy Wall Street, falling pay checks and allegations that clients are treated like "muppets" is hurting recruiting and retention is "ridiculous."

    "There's one guy who wanted to go to Wall Street but now had some kind of moral epiphany and won't, who cares?" said Gorman. He said he recently spoke at a Wharton business school and that there were two overflow rooms of students. He said many of the students wore suits and came up to him with business cards. "The number of friends who call me to get jobs for their kids hasn't stopped," said Gorman.

    Morgan recently handed out offers to soon-to-graduate undergraduates and MBAs. Gorman said the acceptance rate has been somewhere between 70% and 84%. He says most of the people who haven't joined Morgan have gone to one of his firm's two main competitors. "They're not going anywhere else," says Gorman.

    What's more, there hasn't been any mass exodus at the firm, either. Gorman said Morgan Stanley (MS) has lost only two managing directors "that he regretted," out of 1800, since paying out bonuses. One was in Asia and left to go to a hedge fund. Gorman didn't comment on who the other was. Outside of top management, managing director is typically one of the highest level positions at an investment bank.

    Gorman said he thought the recent New York Times op-ed by former Goldman Sachs (GS) employee Greg Smith was unfair. He said printing an op-ed by one disgruntled employee was not "fair and balanced" and that it seemed to him that Goldman is still a place that is respected by its clients. He told employees not to circulate the article to clients in order to win business.

    Like Goldman, he says Morgan regularly deals on transactions where it has conflicts of interest. "It probably happened sometime in the last week somewhere in the world," said Gorman. He said there are no absolute rules on when the firm should back out of a transaction because of conflicts. "That's why we have conflict committees," said Gorman.

    To be sure, few are crying for investment bankers. Most employees at Morgan got paid well over $125,000 last year. On top of the cash bonus, Morgan employees receive a set salary, which has been rising in last few years, and stock grants, which for top bankers can be hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions.

    Gorman said he thinks the U.S. economy is clearly strengthening and that bank stocks will outperform the Standard & Poors 500 in the next few years. "We are in much better shape than our stock price suggests," said Gorman.