Insights

Ray Dalio founded systematic fundamental macro manager, Bridgewater, which as of December 2023, ranks as the fourth most profitable hedge fund manager by absolute dollar returns, with net gains to investors of USD 55.8 billion between inception in 1975 and year end 2023, according to LCH Edmond de Rothschild’s report Great Money Managers 2023. (The places in this annual ranking move around from year to year with performance fluctuations, and Bridgewater was ranked number one in the 2022 report, based on year end 2021 data).

Welcome to the eFinancialCareers
2024 financial services salary and
bonus report.
Many people came out of 2022 thinking,
quite reasonably, “how much worse
could things possibly get?” The answer
was unequivocal: worse. Alongside the
implosions of Credit Suisse and SVB’s and
the estimated 60,000 jobs that were cut
across the banking sector in 2023, profits
were squeezed by weak revenues in both
investment banking and markets.

Sustainable, superior returns accrue to companies that focus on what they do best. The truth is that simple, and yet it’s incredibly hard to internalize. It is the rare company indeed that focuses on “what we do better than anyone” in making every operating decision across every business unit and product line. Rarer still is the company that has aligned its differentiating internal capabilities with the right external market position. We call such companies “coherent.”

Imagine finding the candidate of your dreams—great skills, deep experience and a terrific cultural fit. You’ve spent weeks getting to know them, talking to references and bringing them in for interviews and conversations. You’re certain this is the right person for your team. But they turn you down. Why? They say their recruiting experience was bad—poor enough that they no longer want to work for you. It’s more common than you may think: Nearly half (49%) of job seekers working in in-demand fields like technology say they’ve turned down an offer because of a bad experience during the hiring process.