God’s Minions Hard At Work At 85 Broad

Yesterday Lloyd Blankfein finally came clean to us re: who he works for. And I bet a lot of you probably then made what you thought was the logical conclusion that LB and his people were set for life, what with the Big Guy on their side, and could sit back and take it easy. The BG’s got this money making thing covered, right? Wrong! Turn’s out God’s something of a slave driver and you want to know another thing? No matter how many clients his little worker-bees front run? It’s never enough!

“The market is still difficult and turbulent,” Blankfein said at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch banking and financial services conference. “We are not lounging around in our sunglasses basking in our certain future,” he said. “We stay very close to our clients.”

http://dealbreaker.com/

It’s Never Too Late: Top Firm Hires 78 year-old

Reuters reports that JPMorgan Chase has just hired a 78-year-old broker, proof that it's never too late to make a career move.

The fact that the broker, Ted Dimon, is the father of the bank's CEO Jamie Dimon, is nothing to do with it. Dimon Sr is a top player in his field, and he and five-members of his team have left Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management to join Bear Stearns Private Client Services (which JPMorgan owns).

Ted Dimon began his career in 1953, and soon became a friend of Citigroup legend Sandy Weill. Weill and Dimon Jr eventually teamed up to create the business that eventually became Citi. Ironically, Dimon Jr and Weill fell out in 1998, after Dimon's refusal to promote Weill's daughter, Jessica Bibliowicz, to a more senior role in the organisation.

http://news.hereisthecity.com/news/business_news/9541.cntns

Top Goldman Lawyer Raked In $60 Million

ATL shows us how Goldman Sachs GC Greg Palm made $60 million between 2003 and 2009 – i.e., over $8 million/year. This would sound mighty good even to top partners in Big Law firms. So ATL says

Sullivan & Cromwell partners, eat your hearts out. Not only does Goldman GC Gregory Palm get to boss you around, he also makes more money than you do.

Two years ago I wrote an article for Forbes ("Lawyers Don't Make Enough") in which I favorably compared Goldman Sachs partner earnings to those at, say Wachtell. I speculated that ethical rules are preventing lawyers from getting bigger pieces of the transaction fee pie. The ATL comparison is more to the point, comparing compensation of lawyers to lawyers, not to investment bankers.

Perhaps Sullivan & Cromwell partners, after they're through eating their hearts out, will join with other lawyers in getting to work on the ethical rules that produce these disparities. This is just one of the forces contributing to what I've called The Death of Big Law

http://www.businessinsider.com/top-goldman-sachs-lawyer-made-60-million-from-2003-2009-2009-11

Hedge Assets to Smash $2 Trillion Record

Hedge fund assets may top the previous $2 trillion high by the end of next year as double-digit average returns lure investors, said Barry Bausano, Deutsche Bank AG’s global co-head of prime finance.

Hedge fund assets parked with Deutsche Bank have risen recently and global investors plan to allocate new capital next year, New York-based Bausano said during a visit to Hong Kong on Nov. 6. His division provides services and products ranging from securities lending to financing and derivatives to the industry.

Global hedge funds have rebounded faster than projections by investors in a Deutsche Bank survey in February, even as regulators study ways to increase scrutiny of the industry and managers including Galleon Group’s Raj Rajaratnam face insider trading charges. Hedge fund assets recovered to $1.53 trillion by September, from this year’s trough of $1.33 trillion in March, according to data from Chicago based Hedge Fund Research Inc.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSOfEGxC_pTw&pos=5

L.A. Wealth Watch: Even the Rich Are Treating Their Houses Like Piggy Banks (Really, Really Big Piggy Banks)

In recent years, millions of Americans looked at their houses and saw big, fat piggy banks. And it occurred to them to take out big, fat new mortgages.

Mr. Burkle, the grocery-store billionaire, has $56 million in loans against two houses, including $9 million added last year. One is his iconic Beverly Hills mansion, "Green Acres," a 44-room Italian Renaissance palazzo built in the 1920s by silent-film star Harold Lloyd that more recently was a favorite overnight rest stop for Mr. Burkle's buddy, Bill Clinton. Mr. Burkle declined to say how he is using the money. There is no indication he needs it to pay the water bill.

Traditionally, the super-rich didn't really bother with mortgages. Home loans were for people who carry lunch buckets, not captains of industry. That changed in the boom years -- and it is still going on. Recent big-time home borrowers include fashion entrepreneurs, hedge-fund titans and baseball-team magnates…..

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125755151124534805.html?mod=loomia&loomia_si=t0:a16:g4:r2:c0:b28782523

Pricing on new funds is insaaane!

Charles Schwab has introduced pricing sure to attract attention: free. Customers can trade the new Schwab funds online with no transaction fees. “We think this is a game changer,” Schwab CEO Walter Bettinger said.

Four Schwab ETFs were launched last week, covering the broad U.S. stock market, large-cap domestic stocks, small-cap U.S. stocks and international stocks from developed countries. For each of the new portfolios, the expense ratio, which is the ongoing cost to investors of owning these funds, is among the lowest in the industry.

Three of the four Schwab funds have expense ratios lower than competing products from Barclays, State Street and Vanguard. In the small-cap portfolio, Schwab’s expense ratio comes in lower than those of two of its major competitors and matches Vanguard’s. Four more Schwab ETFs — U.S. large-cap growth, U.S. large-cap value, international small-cap and emerging markets — are set to debut next month.

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/11/09/2009-11-09_pricing_on_new_funds_is_insaaane.html

Hedge Fund Exec Sues For $2.5 Million

A blonde executive who claims she was hounded from her job by a hedge fund boss who openly used prosties and made her visit strip clubs is suing him for £4million.

Jordan Wimmer, 29, felt 'completely soiled' after Mark Lowe, 55, made a string of degrading jokes about blondes and brought high-class escorts to business meetings.

She had to watch in a strip club as her boss enjoyed two explicit lap dances, a tribunal heard.

http://www.businessinsider.com/uk-hedge-fund-exec-sues-for-4million-over-being-forced-to-go-to-strip-clubs-2009-11