March 26 (Bloomberg) -- London traders are raking in salaries and bonuses as much as 50 percent higher than their counterparts in the U.S., according to a study by Napier Scott Executive Search Ltd.

U.K. traders' earnings increased as much as 22 percent, while U.S. salaries and bonuses rose as much as 15 percent last year, according to the survey published by the London recruitment firm today.

Traders in the City, London's main financial district, are growing richer from hedge funds as well as mergers in Europe, which surged in value by 54 percent last year to about $1.7 trillion, matching Wall Street. Deals in the U.S. rose in value by almost a third, according to Bloomberg data.

``London clearly has supremacy as a financial center'' over New York, Shaun Springer, London-based chief executive officer of Napier Scott, said in an interview. There is an ``ever growing size and appetite of financial institutions based in the U.K. and Europe,'' he said in a statement.

London-based Barclays Plc, the third-biggest U.K. bank, and ABN Amro Holding NV said last week they agreed on initial merger terms for what would be the world's biggest financial-services takeover and create a bank with a market value of $160 billion.

Wage Difference

Average compensation for a London-based managing director working in credit structuring, where salary differences with the U.S. are the largest, was 140,000 pounds ($274,000) in salary plus a bonus of 1.56 million pounds last year, according to the survey. That compares with an average New York compensation for an equivalent position of 115,000 pounds in salary and a bonus of 1.24 million pounds, Napier Scott said.

Growth in hedge funds has boosted employment and wages in London. The city accounts for about 40 percent of the industry worldwide, Springer said. Hedge funds, private partnerships that allow managers to share in gains on the money invested, oversee about $1.4 trillion and attracted a record $126.5 billion of new capital last year, data compiled by Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc. show.

Initial public offerings in Europe, led by listings on the London Stock Exchange, raised almost twice as much as in the U.S. in 2006, according to Bloomberg data. Regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley Act are prompting some companies to list on non- U.S. exchanges including London's Alternative Investment Market, Nasdaq Stock Market Inc.'s Chief Executive Officer Robert Greifeld said last year.

U.S. Losing Ground

A study by New York consulting firm McKinsey & Co., commissioned by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Senator Charles Schumer, concluded that the U.S. would lose its place as the leading global financial center in the next decade without legal and regulatory changes.

Europe's financial industry is approaching the U.S. in size, with investment-banking revenue of $98 billion last year, compared with $109 billion in the U.S. The New York politicians ordered the study, published in January, after New York lost 2,000 jobs, or 0.7 percent of the financial workforce, from 2002 to 2005, a period when London's headcount rose by 4.3 percent, according to McKinsey. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News.

Companies in London are adding jobs after growth in the U.K. economy, Europe's second biggest, reached an annualized 3 percent in the fourth quarter, the most in 2 1/2 years. The Bank of England expects growth to increase in 2007.

The number of Britons claiming jobless benefits fell by 3,800 to 922,200 in February, the lowest since January 2006, after dropping a revised 13,300 in January, the Office for National Statistics said March 14.

Traders' salaries in Asia advanced as much as 25 percent, in the Middle East they increased as much as 30 percent, while in Russia they rose 27 percent, the survey said.

Napier Scott surveyed more than 3,000 traders and sales people around the world. The fluctuations in the dollar also had an effect on pay rises, the study said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ambereen Choudhury in London achoudhury@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 26, 2007 10:46 EDT