Trump's new H1B Visa policy: Good for hedge funds, concerning for banks

As we've written about in the past, hedge funds are averse to playing the H1B visa lottery. They run leaner teams and don't want to go through a lengthy visa process, especially if there's no guarantee they will win. Things may soon change. 

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The Department of Homeland Security has filed a proposal for changes to the H1B Visa program. The number of visas available is set to remain the same (85,000), but visas will be disproportionately distributed to roles with higher salaries. This is Trump's second attempt at reforming the H1B process, having tried in his first term, only to be overruled by an incoming Biden.

There are four wage levels at which H1Bs are assigned, with level 1 generally being junior hires and level 4 generally being the most senior.  In the previous reform proposal, Forbes reported that the visas had the potential to be offered only to level 3 and 4 workers. Exact details about the new policy, however, are not yet visible.

The change has the potential to be beneficial for hedge funds, who tend to pay much higher salaries. They do already hire some workers on H1B visas, predominantly technology staff who previously won the lottery for a job at a major multinational like a big tech company. Hedge funds that we've analyzed below pay a salary of over $200k on average to their H1B workers, almost double the total average according to the USA Salary Database.

Depending on how the new H1Bs are weighted, the change could have the opposite effect on banks. They often have hundreds of H1B workers, but pay a lot closer to the average. JPMorgan, for example, has filed 829 roles on the H1B Visa Salary Database in 2025, at an average salary of $110k. Some banks like Morgan Stanley, pay higher salaries for their H1Bs, and might benefit from the change.

Whether or not the changes will actually tempt hedge funds to use H1Bs remains to be seen. Headhunters we've spoken to anonymously have said that there is no immediate response from clients to the proposed legislation, but that "the certainty of being able to obtain a H1B if you pay enough will only help." 

The fact that the proposal calls the new system "weighted," however, implies there might not be certainty, just better odds. That might not be enough to persuade hedge funds, unless they have an international office. One headhunter told us hedge funds with offices in Canada, London or Asia will play the lottery "knowing that they can employ a person in one of those offices if they don't win." For those funds, the change will be a very welcome one.

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