By several measures, it was a good year for asset-management bellwether BlackRock (NYSE: BLK). Its full-year results were strong; adjusted for nonrecurring items such as deal integration expenses, net income was up 110 percent compared to 2009, on revenue of $2.1 billion. The stock price, however, lagged the broader market, falling nearly 20 percent.

So, the board's decided to provide appropriate rewards for 2010 as well as some major incentives for 2011. The board disclosed in a filing that CEO Larry Fink was granted 46,031 restricted shares and 18,712 options vesting over three years. Those securities are valued at $13 million, more than double the $6 million Fink received in 2009, reports the Financial Times. Fink now controls 1.4 million shares in the asset manager, worth roughly $275 million.

Massive options and restricted stock grants are nothing new on Wall Street. We're seeing the boards of all the major banks provide incentives that will pay off over the next four or five years--if the stock prices rise.

I sense this form of compensation will be less explosive as a shareholder issue this year. It seems many boards paid attention to the vesting and strike price details. Some critics, however, may quibble with the sheer size of the grants. The industry can rest assured that it is still possible to get rich fairly quickly at top Wall Street firms.

For more:
- here's the FT article

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