Bush gets lion’s share of financial service companies’ contributions

Financial services firms are clearly in the Bush camp when it comes to fund raising for the 2004 presidential election.

While many firms have given money to both George W. Bush and John Kerry, overall they've given six times as much to Mr. Bush, according to data obtained by Pensions & Investments.

A list of financial services firms employees from the asset management, private equity and brokerage community shows that the firms, as of Jan. 31, the most recent data available, had given a total of $2.9 million to the Bush campaign and $488,050 to the Kerry campaign. (The research department of the Center for Responsive Politics, Washington, compiled the data for P&I.)

But some Wall Street executives are hedging their bets. Peter G. Peterson, chairman of the Blackstone Group, New York, gave money to Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry, as did Charles Prince, chief executive officer and president of Citigroup Inc., New York. However, his boss, Sanford I. Weill, chairman of Citigroup, is listed as a donor only to the Bush campaign.

George Soros is the most prominent money manager contributing to organizations that support the ideals of Democratic candidates, including MoveOn.Org and America Coming Together. He's given a combined total of $6.5 million to those organizations since Jan. 1, 2003, but has committed a total of $10 million to America Coming Together.

Michael Vachon, Mr. Soros' spokesman, pointed out that Mr. Soros has not contributed any money to the Kerry campaign, only to organizations registered under Rule 527 with the Federal Election Commission that support Democratic principles. Under law, those groups are forbidden from coordinating their activities with the Democratic party or candidates.

Employees of Merrill Lynch & Co., New York, were the biggest donors to the Bush campaign. Its employees gave a total of $458,204 to Mr. Bush and zero to Mr. Kerry.

While employees of 10 firms gave money to both the Bush and Kerry campaigns, several prominent executives stand out on only one list.

In the Bush camp are Abigail Johnson, president of Fidelity Management and Research, Boston; Henry Paulson, chairman and CEO, of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., New York; and John Thain, who recently left Goldman to become CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. These three — and all other individuals cited in this story — each contributed $2,000, the legal limit.

Also making contributions to the Bush campaign were E. John Rosenwald Jr., vice chairman of the board at Bear Stearns & Co., New York; and James Cayne, CEO of Bear Stearns and Wayne Angell, its chief economist and former member of the Federal Reserve Board.

Prominent contributors to the Bush campaign from Credit Suisse First Boston, New York, include John Mack, CEO; Jeffrey Peak, former vice chairman; and Gary Lynch, general counsel and former head of the investment division at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Michael Carpenter, former chairman of the Salomon Smith Barney unit at Citigroup, and Peter Dawkins, a vice chairman of the Citigroup Private Bank, contributed to the Bush campaign. along with Mr. Prince and Mr. Weill.

John Costas, chairman and CEO of UBS Warburg, and Donald Marron, chairman of UBS Financial Services and former chairman and CEO of PaineWebber Inc. before its acquisition by UBS, are contributors to the Bush campaign.

Among those donating only to Mr. Kerry's campaign are Morgan Stanley Chairman Richard Fisher and chief economist Byron Wien; Citigroup Vice Chairman Louis Susman; and CSFB Managing Director Gary Balter.

Employees from the private equity firm Apollo Group, New York, also donated only to the Kerry campaign, with Chairman Leon Black listed as one of the contributors.

And employees of Boston Capital Co., Boston, are only supporting Massachusetts' favorite son. Jeffrey Goldstein, chief operating officer, and John P. Manning, president, were listed as two contributors to the Kerry campaign.

Lazard Freres & Co., New York, is the only major financial services firm whose employees donated only to the Kerry campaign, for a total of $12,500. Although he is not listed among the contributors, Lazard CEO Bruce Wasserstein is known as a prominent Democratic supporter.

The 10 firms whose employees gave money to both the Bush and Kerry campaigns are:

-- Goldman Sachs, which gave $282,725 to Mr. Bush and $68,750 to Mr. Kerry;

-- UBS Americas, New York, $358,850 to Mr. Bush and $33,800 to Mr. Kerry;

-- Morgan Stanley, $177,075 to Mr. Bush and $40,000 to Mr. Kerry;

-- CSFB, $251,750 to Mr. Bush and $22,650 to Mr. Kerry;

-- Bear Stearns, $231,500 to Mr. Bush and $27,000 to Mr. Kerry;

-- Blackstone Group, $101,750 to Mr. Bush and $16,500 to Mr. Kerry;

-- Citigroup, $65,650 to Mr. Bush and $30,150 to Mr. Kerry;

-- Lehman Brothers, gave $231,500 to Mr. Bush and $20,500 to Mr. Kerry;

-- Fidelity Investments, Boston, $72,508 to Mr. Bush and $13,150 to Mr. Kerry; and

-- Cendant Corp., New York, which gave $86,550 to Mr. Bush and $16,350 to Mr. Kerry.

Joseph Rice III is included on the list of Bush contributors from Blackstone, but firm spokesman John Ford said Mr. Rice —chairman and CEO of the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc., New York — has no formal relationship with the firm.

And while others might not be listed among direct contributors to the campaigns, their influence is felt in other ways.

Stanley O'Neal, CEO of Merrill Lynch, is not listed among the contributors but co-hosted a fund-raiser for President Bush in June, acknowledged Mark Herr, Merrill Lynch general counsel. That event raised $4 million.

Although the Hennessee Group, New York, a hedge fund firm, has no one listed as a contributor to the Bush campaign, CEO Lee Hennessee hosted a Bush fund-raiser on March 11. Asked why she supported Mr. Bush, she replied through an e-mail that "the current group is not unfavorable to hedge funds" and that she "lives in New York City and making a change in national defense is like hopping from a well-built boat into a canoe."

Although employees of Atalanta/Sosnoff Capital Corp., a New York-based money management firm, are not listed as a contributors to either campaign, Chairman Martin Sosnoff is a major fund-raiser for Mr. Kerry. He admitted that it can be a little lonely to be a Kerry supporter in the financial services industry because "most of my friends are Republicans."

However, he's a strict Democrat and said his fund raising for Mr. Kerry "is fairly significant and it will continue. My wife and I will be busy calling people and meeting with people.

"I think he's going to make a great president."