Investors See Larger Bonuses For 2009: Bloomberg Global Poll

NEW YORK -

- New York Seen As Preferred Financial Center

Even as politicians in Washington, DC and voters on Main Street are railing against multi-million dollar pay packages on Wall Street, globally, investors and analysts expect their bonuses to rise this year, according to the Bloomberg Global Poll, a quarterly survey of economic, financial and political attitudes among BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL(R) service users worldwide.

Nearly three in five of those surveyed believe their 2009 bonuses will either increase or won’t change. Only one in four anticipate a decline. In addition, 51 percent of global investors and 65 percent of U.S. investors polled believe government attempts to limit compensation will stifle innovation by the industry, while 38 percent globally and 27 percent in the U.S. think it would control excessive risk taking.

Investors also want to work in cities with an established financial services infrastructure. Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed view New York as the best place for financial services two years from now, beating out Singapore with 17 percent and London with 16 percent. Tokyo, once considered a global financial center, was only considered best by 1 percent of investors surveyed.

According to those polled, however, the best prospects for investments can be found in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil. Sixty-eight percent say they are optimistic about the investment climate in Brazil, with 67 percent optimistic about India and 66 percent optimistic about China. Only 41 percent of those surveyed were positive about the investment climate in the U.S., 36 percent in the European Union and 25 percent in Japan, according to survey results, which are available at www.bloomberg.com.

The Bloomberg Global Poll interviewed a random sample of 1,452 subscribers to the BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL service, a universe of more than 300,000 decision makers in finance, the markets and economics. It was conducted by Selzer & Company, whose survey of Iowa Caucus voters in 2008 was the only one to accurately predict Barack Obama’s victory. The firm has conducted surveys for more than two dozen major newspapers in the U.S., and was named the best of 32 polling firms ranked by polling Web site FiveThirtyEight.com.

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Source: Bloomberg

Angela Martin, Bloomberg LP, +1-212-617-1211, angelamartin at bloomberg.net