Wall Street bonuses are set to fall by an average of 20 to 30 percent this year from a year ago, according to a closely watched compensation survey from Johnson Associates. That would be the weakest bonus season since the financial crisis. The cuts mostly come to trading and investment banking departments, which are struggling this year. Executive pay will also likely be down. Employees in less volatile businesses, like asset management and commercial banking, will make about what they did in 2010. This year, the biggest loser will be fixed-income employees. That business is historically a big money maker, but profits in trading bonds, currencies and commodities have been hard to come by because of the uncertainty on global markets and economic weakness in the United States. For employees on equity trading desks, compensation will fall sharply as well, about 20% to 30%. The same goes for investment banking, where pay will be down 10% to 20%. On the other hand, brokers who manage very wealthy clients will have compensation gains of as much as 5%. Some employees in commercial and retail banking may see either a small 5% drop in pay, or potentially a 5%bump, in part because client deposits are growing. Other areas, like private equity and prime brokerage, will see their compensation stay flat or fall just slightly, the survey predicts. [CNBC.com, 11/8/11]