Bonuses explode for IT hedge fund staff

Hedge fund IT employees are experiencing bonuses of up to 60 per cent more than they received last year.

ReThink Recruitment reports that the base salary for senior IT staff now stands at around £100,000, while those with experience in designing and implementing algorithmic trading platforms can anticipate 80 per cent bonuses.

There is an increasing trend to pay out these rewards quarterly, rather than on an annual basis, in line with investment banking.

Fhamid Malik, Head of Financial Services at ReThink, commented that competition between institutions to have the fastest and most reliable trading systems is fuelling the rise in remuneration and competition for top workers.

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“Many funds have been upgrading their IT platforms, which has pushed up demand for qualified staff. Continued regulatory pressure has also meant that funds are re-engineering their front-office systems,” he added.

Bidding wars have resulted in many companies increasing base salaries by up to 30 per cent in order to stop key employees from leaving.