Motivation

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." — Henry Ford

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Top Wall Street & Bank Traders

Michael Hutchins

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: 49

As UBS’s global head of fixed income, rates and currencies, Hutchins is one manager who still actively trades. The expectation that he will soon retire from the bank has sparked mass speculation among Street watchers over who his replacement might be. Publicly, however, Hutchins does not appear inclined to depart. Last October, he joined the Bond Market Association’s board of directors.
Estimated income: $30–$40 million
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Driss Ben-Brahim

City: London
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 40

The head of Goldman’s exotics-derivatives desk in London, Ben-Brahim made partner and was named successor to Christian Siva-Jothy and Geoff Grant, the former co-heads of Goldman’s global foreign-exchange prop-trading desk who left for hedge-fund land last year. Ben-Brahim did not take home a 2004 bonus in the same stratosphere as his 2003 check (which was rumored as high as $70 million), but he can still ably afford London rent.
Estimated income: $25–$30 million
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Ken Karl

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: 46

Running the UBS prop-trading desk (known internally as PFG) as well as the firm’s credit arbitrage group, Karl fared well last year, winning a bonus package that might have made even a hedge-fund manager envious.
Estimated income: $25–$30 million
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Jon Wood

City: London
Firm: UBS
Age: 42

Dubbed “Keyser Soze” by some rivals after the mysterious kingpin from The Usual Suspects, Wood, yet another big-earning UBS trader near the top of the Wall Street heap, is known for being secretive. He has also earned a reputation as one of the most aggressive and successful traders today. With just a few others alongside him, Wood runs what is viewed as one of the City’s most powerful equity-prop desks. He was recently lured out of seclusion as a result of his involvement in a legal spat concerning the Gadget Shop in the United Kingdom. Keyser Söze apparently has a sense of humor; British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (Ali G) provided the entertainment at his fortieth birthday party.
Estimated income: $25–$30 million
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John Bertuzzi

City: London
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 50

Goldman insiders say Bertuzzi, another energy warrior, was on fire in 2004. “He made well over $100 million in profit for the bank,” one source tells us. While oil was so hot last year that many could turn a profit just by getting up in the morning, to rank among the most profitable in Goldman’s elite crew takes an edge.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Robert Cignarella

City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Age: 36

Considered among the best debt traders on the buy side, Cignarella, a graduate of the University of Chicago Business School, is one of the brightest lights at GSAM, the asset-management arm of Wall Street’s most prestigious firm.
Estimated income: $25 – $30 million
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Jeffrey Frase

City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 37

As Goldman’s head of crude-oil trading, Frase had the catbird seat for the one of the biggest oil-price run-ups ever witnessed — and it appears he made good use of it. Colleagues report that his raw trading talent is as good as anyone’s.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Geoff Grant

City: London
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: Early 40s

A top Forex-market prop trader at Goldman, Grant took his bonus check and traded London drizzle for California sunshine, moving to Santa Barbara, California, to launch a hedge fund with fellow Goldman alum Ron Beller. The global macro fund, Peloton Partners, will be based in London, but Grant will operate from his little piece of paradise.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Olav Refvik

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 46

Some rival traders have dubbed him the “King of New York Harbor” for his savvy rental of waterfront real estate — he controls a large chunk of oil-storage space, which gave the firm an edge in last year’s raging oil market. Refvik, a Norwegian, is also known to sail around the harbor in his yacht, Song of Norway. His February bonus check should allow for a significant naval upgrade.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Neal Shear

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 50

Part of the crack energy team that was practically printing money for Morgan Stanley in 2004, Shear was rewarded for his success. In March, he was appointed head of fixed income, replacing Zoe Cruz. If the energy markets weren’t excitement enough for Shear last year, his appointment lands him neatly in the midst of a major power struggle between the backers and the enemies of CEO Phil Purcell.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Ashok Varadhan

City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 33

Considered one of the best young traders on Wall Street, as well as a likely candidate to be among the next crop of Goldman pros bolting for a hedge fund, Varadhan heads up North American interest-rate products, reporting to Philippe Khuong-Huu. The numbers gene runs in the family: Varadhan’s father, Srinivasa, is an eminent mathematics professor at New York University.
Estimated income: $20–$25 million
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Jack DiMaio

City: New York
Firm: CSFB
Age: 37

A cool cat, DiMaio has gone through a few lives in his career on Wall Street. The acclaimed bond trader first made headlines when he threatened to take his credit team to rival Barclays Capital, and later did an about-face after extracting a breathtaking compensation deal from CSFB. Former CSFB CEO John Mack, chagrined by the episode, later shunted DiMaio and his team over to the asset-management wing, CSAM. Now, with more than $1 billion of CSFB’s money under management, DiMaio is starting his own credit hedge fund, DA Capital.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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Simon Greenshields

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 49

Another of the hot energy traders who made Morgan Stanley’s commodities department one of the top performers on Wall Street last year, Greenshields, a natural-gas and electricity trader, was handsomely rewarded for his performance.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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Yan Huo

City: London
Firm: UFJ International
Age: 41

After a successful run heading a prop-trading desk in London for J.P. Morgan, Huo moved last year to a prop-trading position for UFJ International in the City, where he continued to excel.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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Michael Nierenberg

City: New York
Firm: Bear Stearns
Age: 42

Bear Stearns had a phenomenal year in mortgage-backed securities, and few did better than Nierenberg, the firm’s co-head of MBS trading. In 2004, Bear dominated the global MBS market, with $93 billion in issuance for a 10 percent market share, some $6 billion more than its closest rival. Nierenberg is reportedly so superstitious that he refuses to write in red ink; we suspect he used quite a bit of black throughout 2004.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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John Shapiro

City: New York
Firm: Morgan Stanley
Age: 53

The head of Morgan Stanley’s commodities-trading team, Street veteran Shapiro is known for trading in the physicals as well as energy derivatives. Morgan sources say Shapiro didn’t do too badly for his own book.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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Barry Wittlin

City: New York
Firm: Merrill Lynch
Age: 47

Appointed head of strategic risk trading for Merrill Lynch’s global debt markets in January, Wittlin made his 2004 score heading the firm’s global-rates group. While the titles sound official and stuffy, Wittlin is in fact “one of the biggest prop traders there,” one insider says.
Estimated income: $15–$20 million
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Nasser Ahmad

City: New York
Firm: CSFB
Age: 37

The A in Jack DiMaio’s new DA Capital, Ahmad, part of the group that jumped over to CSAM with DiMaio, has been running an internal credit hedge fund for CSFB. An accomplished fixed-income trader, he will now help run the more than $1 billion in DA Capital’s pot.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Charlie W.K. Chan

City: Singapore
Firm: CSFB
Age: 45

The head of emerging-markets FX trading, Chan (whose full name is Charlie Chan Wai Kheong) paced the bank-trading scene in Asia in 2004. His trading book for CSFB created buzz; might a move to a hedge fund be in the works?
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Nicolas Dusart

City: New York
Firm: BNP Paribas
Age: 32

French banks have a reputation for not paying as well as their American counterparts, but industry sources say BNP Paribas was hardly stingy when it came to Dusart’s bonus. The director of high-yield prop trading is said to be well worth all those euros.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Philippe Khuong-Huu

City: New York
Firm: Goldman Sachs
Age: 40

Another in a long line of brilliant minds to serve Goldman masters, Khuong-Huu was brought in four years ago from J.P. Morgan, where he launched the firm’s options-arbitrage group. A world traveler, Khuong-Huu worked in Paris at Société Générale in the late ’80s, trading in the bank’s index-arbitrage business. He later moved to J.P. Morgan in Tokyo.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Angie Long

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 30

Among the top traders at J.P. Morgan, Long last year ran high-yield and credit-derivatives trading; she was recently promoted to be deputy to Eric Rosen, the head of credit trading. Extremely bright and a trader’s trader — she can hold her own on the desk and on the town — she’s also the only female on the Trader Monthly 100.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Rajeev Misra

City: London
Firm: Deutsche Bank
Age: Early 40s

Misra, head of global credit trading, has helped turn Deutsche into a credit-derivates powerhouse. His inspiration was to better integrate the unit into the bank, leading to greater innovation and more money.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Aziz Nahas

City: London
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 33

Head of prop trading at J.P. Morgan, Nahas was lured away from CSFB along with Cyril Levy-Marchal last March. He reported to head prop honcho Yan Huo (see page 81), but when Huo left, Nahas took over.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Sal Naro

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: 43

Naro surprised many when he left UBS this spring to launch a new hedge fund with SAC Capital veteran Mark Fishman. Based in Stamford, Connecticut, the fund is called Sailfish Capital.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Michael Phelps

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: Early 40s

While the Olympic swimming stud who shares his name took home more gold in 2004, the Phelps who works at J.P. Morgan took home more green: He’s among the top prop traders at the bank.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Eric Rosen

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: Early 40s

In the past 18 months, Rosen has risen, going from head of loan trading to co-head of credit trading and then to sole head of credit trading. Many speculate he’ll climb further still.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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Christopher Ryan

City: New York
Firm: UBS
Age: Late 30s

Named co-head of the newly created global credit group at UBS along with Sal Naro late last year, Ryan is the man left standing at the helm after Naro bolted to start his own hedge fund. UBS insiders say Ryan does not possess quite the trading chops of Naro, but he certainly did all right for himself in 2004.
Estimated income: $10–$15 million
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David Sabath

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 41

As head of credit prop-trading at J.P. Morgan, Sabath had a scorching year in 2004. This spring, he left to team up with Satellite Asset Management’s David Ford to launch a broad-based credit hedge fund. Before coming onboard at J.P. Morgan’s prop group, Sabath headed up distressed debt at Golman Sachs.
Estimated income: $10 – $15 million
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Geoffrey Sherry

City: New York
Firm: J.P. Morgan
Age: 40

It has been an interesting 18 months or so for Sherry, who was promoted in November, along with Eric Rosen, to run J.P. Morgan’s credit-trading business. Sherry did not stay especially long in his new seat, however. This past March, he bolted the firm to join Bruce Kovner’s Caxton Associates, where he’s starting a new fixed-income hedge fund.
Estimated income: $10 – $15 million
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Boaz Weinstein

City: New York
Firm: Deutsche Bank
Age: 31

One of the most popular traders on Wall Street, Weinstein is also among the most talented. As head of global credit trading-U.S., overseeing approximately 100 traders, he still spends a good deal of time trading for the firm’s internal hedge funds and prop-trading book. A star chess player, Weinstein was also once something of a card counter.
Estimated income: $10 – $15 million

Other Categories:

- Top Prop & Indie Traders
- Top Commodity & Pit Traders
- Top Wall Street & Bank Traders
- Top Hedge Fund Traders