2020/2021 Options Group Global Buyside Report

As institutions begin the process of allocating bonus pools and 2021 budgets, hiring managers and business unit heads may use these forecasts as a guide to employee compensation expectations.

The 2020/2021 Global Buyside Report includes regional hiring and compensation summaries, and detailed year-over-year trends and data, gathered from not only internal surveys and analysis, but also publicly available news sources.

Our theme for this year’s report is “Navigating Compensation Challenges and the Future of Work During Covid-19.”

Market volatility itself in a normal year would be a major factor. However, 2020 has not been a normal year. What lies ahead is a high-wire balancing act of work and hiring.

Over the past decade, hedge fund outflows and the number of funds shuttering have been watched closely by the financial services community. Throughout this period, alarm bells were rung by many on the outside, in an attempt to predict the demise of the hedge fund structure.

Since the global financial crisis of 2008, buyside firms have been forced to institutionalize operations to remain competitive. Robust and transparent risk management processes evolved from “checking the box” for investors and allocators, to becoming primary functions and the essence of what it means to be an asset manager.

2020 will forever be remembered as not just a test of these more robust risk processes, but as a litmus test for the hedge fund industry writ large.

What’s Included in the Report

This year’s report covers all of the following product areas:

Investment Professionals

• Multi-Strategy
• Global Macro
• Long/Short Equity
• Credit
• Systematic Trading
• Electronic Trading (new for 2020/2021)
• Structured Products
• Asset Management & Long-Only Investing
• Private Equity

Non-investment Professionals

• Distribution
• Quant Research
• Data Science
• Risk Management & Compliance
• Information Technology

Also included are a global hiring heat map by region and product area, high-profile people moves, and examples of accepted, rejected, and countered hiring offers.