Por SUZANNE KAPNER y AARON LUCCHETTI

Citigroup Inc. afronta una posible rebaja contable multimillonaria conforme empieza a desmantelar su inversión minoritaria en la corredora Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

En el segundo trimestre, Morgan Stanley tendrá derecho a empezar a comprar la participación que Citigroup tiene en la empresa conjunta, formada en 2009, cuando ambas firmas combinaron Smith Barney, de Citigroup, con la división de gestión de patrimonio de Morgan Stanley. Es probable que el precio sea uno de los puntos principales que se discutirán cuando arranquen las negociaciones en unos meses, apuntan fuentes cercanas a la situación.

Actualmente, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney está valorada en US$20.000 en los libros de Citigroup según cálculos del analista Howard Chen, de Credit Suisse: US$5.000 millones más que en los de Morgan Stanley, proyecta Chen, debido en gran parte a diferencias en cómo las compañías contabilizaron los activos que contribuyeron. El valor de la participación de Citigroup en el negocio ronda los US$10.000 millones.

Para colmo, parece que podría haber una caída en el valor de la empresa desde su lanzamiento, afectada por la inestabilidad de las bolsas, una economía débil y una integración lenta de las dos firmas, todo lo cual ha entorpecido la habilidad de la compañía para atraer nuevos activos de clientes.

Con una opción de compra sobre la empresa, Morgan Stanley tiene un incentivo para presentar cifras que podrían apoyar un precio más bajo. Aun así, varios expertos creen que la firma vale considerablemente menos ahora que cuando fue fundada. De reflejarse en un acuerdo, esa valuación más baja podría suponer para Citigroup un golpe después de impuestos de hasta US$1.800 millones, sugieren los analistas, lo que supera sus ganancias del cuarto trimestre.

Una rebaja contable no “cambiaría el juego en términos de tamaño”, dijo Mike Mayo, un analista de Crédit Agricole Securities. “Pero plantea preguntas sobre la manera en que Citi valúa sus activos”.

Citigroup no quiso hacer comentarios al respecto.

Un desacuerdo sobre el precio probablemente no sería suficiente para impedir un pacto, que inicialmente impulsaría la propiedad de Morgan Stanley de 51% a 65% y reduciría la de Citigroup a 35%. Morgan Stanley tiene opciones de compra adicionales en los próximos años y se espera que asuma la propiedad completa para 2014, probablemente eliminando Smith Barney del nombre.

La propiedad completa de Morgan Stanley Smith Barney es un componente clave del empeño del presidente ejecutivo, James Gorman, para reducir la dependencia de Morgan Stanley de su volátil división de ventas y corretaje. Para Citigroup, la venta le permitiría liberar capital y salirse de negocios fuera de su enfoque central, que es la banca minorista y comercial.

Cuando las empresas anunciaron sus planes para el proyecto conjunto en enero de 2009, ambas eran optimistas sobre sus posibilidades de crecimiento. Gorman quería expandir el negocio de corretaje como parte de un intento de configurar un Morgan Stanley más seguro después de la crisis financiera de 2008. Mientras, el presidente ejecutivo de Citigroup, Vikram Pandit, dijo que el acuerdo creaba “un negocio global incomparable de gestión de patrimonio”.

Sin embargo, la realidad ha resultado mucho más prosaica. Para 2011, el margen de ganancia antes de impuestos de la firma combinada fue de 10%, la mitad de la proyección de Gorman. A su vez, el total de activos administrados declinó en US$20.000 millones a US$1,65 billones (millones de millones). Los ingresos, ganancias y activos en gestión son menores en Morgan Stanley Smith Barney hoy en día que cuando fueron combinadas las divisiones, según Jeff Harte, analista de Sandler O’Neill + Partners.

Una venta que valore la participación de Citigroup en US$7.500 millones —en línea con el estimado de Morgan Stanley, según Chen, el analista de Credit Suisse— podría resultar en una rebaja contable de US$2.500 millones. Citigroup registró en el trimestre cerrado el 31 de diciembre US$1.200 millones en ganancias.

By ELIZABETH GARONE

Q:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the demand for post-secondary instructors as one of the top 10 U.S. labor needs in the next decade. Although I am 56 years old and hold a Master’s degree, I am considering going back for a Ph.D. with an eye toward teaching once I receive my degree. I think I can make it through the program in about three years. My only question is whether you believe unwritten age discrimination would render my efforts and cash outlay completely moot.

A: The good news is that of all the fields out there, higher education is one that tends to have less of an age bias than many others, say the experts.

“A certain degree of ageism exists pretty much everywhere in our youth-oriented culture,” says Paul Powers, a management psychologist in Wellesley, Mass., and author of “Winning Job Interviews.” “That said, in my 30 years of consulting as a management psychologist, I have observed less ageism in higher ed than in other industries.”

Plantation, Fla.-based executive career coach Debbie Benami-Rahm encourages her older clients to focus on the positive attributes that come with more years of experience: stability, knowledge, dependability and loyalty, for example. “In academia, I believe it actually helps to have more world experience,” she says.

Rather than focus too much on your age, which you might be able to mask but can’t change, you’ll want to look closely at whether the particular degree you are considering is likely to pay off in the coming years.

First, ensure that you are picking a field that has a strong need, says Ms. Benami-Rahm. For example, math and science have been identified as areas with huge gaps between the number of projected positions and qualified instructors.

It would help if you also choose a field of study that you already have some experience working in, says Seattle-based career coach Rita Ashley. “Educators hire based on three factors: visibility, the degree and the experience one has in the field using that degree,” she says. So, even the prestige of a doctorate degree may not be enough to offset a lack of experience in that field.

Next, you’ll want to do some “reality testing,” says Mr. Powers. Start by visiting campuses and speaking with professors to determine the pros and cons of such a move. You’ll also want to find out what the current trends are in the field you are considering. One way to do this is to speak with people in human resources and administrators. “Try to determine your realistic chances of getting hired a few years down the road, recognizing that this down economy has hit higher-education budgets and payrolls as it has elsewhere,” says Mr. Powers.

Ms. Benami-Rahm suggests setting up informational interviews with people you know who hold post-doctorate degrees. Their experiences will be a good indication of how you might fare if you pursue that route. “Really pick their brains,” she says. “Find out the opportunities. How are they doing in the academic world? What courses do they teach? What do they project it to be like in three years?”

You’ll need to engage them in order to learn what it took to get there, says Ms. Ashley. She suggests asking: “If you wanted your job today, what would you do and what credentials would you need to obtain that position?”

Lastly, do your own cost-benefit analysis, says Ms. Benami-Rahm. Once you graduate and start working, will you be able to repay the investment you made in the program? It is not just the cost of the actual program but the years of missed income that you will need to consider when doing your analysis. If the numbers still add up, you may want to go for the degree. Otherwise, you would probably be better off investigating teaching opportunities that don’t require a Ph.D.

Write to ELIZABETH GARONE at cjeditor@dowjones.com

By SARA RUFFIN COSTELLO

Simon Brown/’Romantic Irish Homes’ by Cico Books/Trunk Archive

SWANK DRAPE | A tea-stained floral fabric attached to a wall-mounted bracket and held to the side with curtain tiebacks glamorizes faded wallpaper and a patchwork quilt.

I always advise a single bold decorating stroke per room, whether it’s a statement piece of furniture or a courageous color combination. Like an adventurous conversationalist at a dull dinner party, a twist on the expected keeps everybody awake.

When it comes to the bedroom, one painless route to design bravery is to modify the furniture arrangement. Even a classicist like myself feels strangled by the rigor of too much stagnant symmetry.

The, um, non-missionary approach would be to “float” the bed slightly into the room. Positioning the bed away from the wall is bound to feel awkward at first. Timorous types may long for the imagined support of a back wall.

But trust me, it isn’t load bearing to the bed. I came across a picture of a floating bed in decorator Vicente Wolf’s lofty New York bedroom. Mr. Wolf, a master furniture arranger, had pulled the bed away from the wall and arranged it on the diagonal.

In so doing, the corner had become something unpredictable. With the biggest piece of furniture freed from its expected position, the room became a little more bohemian.

James Merrell

SCREEN STARLET | A tall Coromandel screen replaces conventional above-the-bed art in a room designed by Miles Redd.

A more tailored approach, a la decorator David Hicks, would be to create a mini canopy above the bed. By attaching a rectangular-shaped pelmet at the top of the wall or on the ceiling and hanging fabric from it (a piece down the back and one on either side), you create the illusion of a headboard.

For the upholstery-averse, a more DIY path is to pull a swath of fabric through a curtain tieback centered above the bed, close to the ceiling, and let the yardage fall on either side.

Another way to banish boring bedroom décor is to use a folding screen as a headboard. A low (about five-feet tall) and lengthy screen looks modern and suits the scale of large rooms. A tall screen behind a bed can take the place of art.

The bedroom should be a sanctuary for unplugging and recharging—and the bed, especially, a Zen place to escape for a few hours. By making it a beautiful focal point, you might even want to share it with someone.

—Ms. Ruffin Costello is a writer and design consultant based in New Orleans.

What’s a Pelmet and How Do I Get One?

A pelmet is an upholstered board or box, attached to the ceiling or wall, that hides the fastenings from which curtains are hung.

How to get one: Hire an upholsterer

How big: A pelmet can run the width of the bed or smaller. Smaller pelmets require curtain tiebacks attached to the middle of the wall on either side of the bed so the fabric can drape nicely.

Cost: $1,200-$4,000

Avoid if: Your ceiling is lower than 8 feet.

—Matthew Haly of the Furniture Joint in New York

By LAURA VANDERKAM

There was a time, not so long ago, when I was busy, busy, busy. At least I thought I was.

I told people I worked 60 hours a week. I claimed to sleep six hours a night. As I lamented to anyone stuck next to me at parties, I was basically too busy to breathe. Me time? Ha!

Now I work 45 hours a week and sleep close to eight hours a night. But I’m not getting any less done.

About the Author

Mark Bennington

Laura Vanderkam is the author of “168 Hours” and the forthcoming “All The Money In The World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting And Spending” (Portfolio, March 1). Ms. Vanderkam lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and three children.

My secret? I started keeping track of how I spent my time, logging how many hours and minutes I devoted to different activities such as work, sleep and chores.

I soon realized I’d been lying to myself about where the time was going. What I thought was a 60-hour workweek wasn’t even close. I would have guessed I spent hours doing dishes when in fact I spent minutes. I spent long stretches of time lost on the Internet or puttering around the house, unsure exactly what I was doing.

I’m not alone in this time fog. If you believe results from the American Time Use Survey, done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other studies, plenty of Americans have faulty impressions of how they spend time in our “too-rushed-to-breathe” world.

We all have the same 168 hours per week — a number few people contemplate even as they talk about “24-7″ with abandon — but since time passes whether we acknowledge it or not, we seldom think through exactly how we’re spending our hours.

We also live in a competitive society, and so by lamenting our overwork and sleep deprivation — even if that requires workweek inflation and claiming our worst nights are typical — we show that we are dedicated to our jobs and our families. Being “busy” and “starved for time” is a way to show we matter. Put another way, it makes us feel important.

Getty Images

But if you think about it, complaining about a lengthy to-do list is not only boring, it’s a sad hook for one’s self-esteem. Owning up to how we spend our hours gives us more control of our time, and ultimately, of our lives.

Here’s how to do it:

Keep a time log. If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you may have tried keeping a food journal. Sure, you’re eating grilled chicken for dinner, but the eight M&Ms you grab from the receptionist’s candy jar add up, too.

Like tracking meals, tracking time keeps us from spending it mindlessly or lying to ourselves about what we do with it. Write down what you’re doing as often as you remember for at least a week. Add up the totals. Checking Facebook five times a day at six minutes a pop adds up to two-and-a-half hours in a workweek — curiously, the exact amount of time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends we exercise.

Be honest. While Americans claim to sleep six to seven hours per night, time logs show we sleep more than eight. One study tracking people’s estimated and actual workweeks found that those claiming to work 70, 80, or more hours were logging less than 60.

Ask yourself what you’d like to do with your time. Claiming to be busy relieves us of the burden of choice. But if you’re working 50 hours a week, and sleeping eight hours a night (56 per week) that leaves 62 hours for other things. That’s plenty of hours for a family life and a personal life — exercising, volunteering, sitting on the porch with the paper, plus watching TV if you like. Set goals — maybe three hours of exercise and swapping out two hours of TV for reading — and see where in your 168 hours you could make that happen.

Change your language. Instead of saying “I don’t have time” try saying “it’s not a priority,” and see how that feels. Often, that’s a perfectly adequate explanation. I have time to iron my sheets, I just don’t want to. But other things are harder. Try it: “I’m not going to edit your résumé, sweetie, because it’s not a priority.” “I don’t go to the doctor because my health is not a priority.” If these phrases don’t sit well, that’s the point. Changing our language reminds us that time is a choice. If we don’t like how we’re spending an hour, we can choose differently.

Write to Laura Vanderkam at cjeditor@dowjones.com

The joy of a private office—it’s something 89% of senior managers in the U.S. have celebrated. Soon after, though, there’s the realization that the space feels cut off from the action. At times, the four walls can feel like barriers to keeping in touch with colleagues.

What does the perfect office look like? Four design firms were given the same dimensions of a mid-executive office. Sue Shellenbarger explains what they did with the space.

Is there a way to make that same office a more inspiring, productive space that actually aids communication?

To that end, four design firms were challenged to configure a 15-foot by 15-foot space for a hypothetical midlevel executive. The office should look good, of course, but the firms were asked to envision a space that could inspire ideas and increase productivity.

Each firm came up with imaginative spaces—understandable when given a blank slate and unlimited budget. Yet the vastly different “perfect office” designs offer common themes.

All the designers created virtual fishbowls, building in two or more glass walls and even, in two cases, having one glass wall fold or slide open to create shared space. This openness allows the executive “to be seen by other people,” and to show leadership and earn trust, says Kursty Groves, a New York-based consultant to businesses on designing creative workplaces.

Each firm’s rendering highlights different work zones within the office to accommodate different tasks, from concentrating on a project to meeting with colleagues to sitting back to reflect. Also, most of the firms aimed to integrate the latest wireless technology and environmental controls into desktops or key pads, making them nearly undetectable to the eye.

What’s out, based on the firms’ concepts, are towering status-symbol executive desks and trophy-laden “ego walls.” Capacious drawers and closets for storage are mostly absent too, reflecting the paperless trend.

Of course, the definition of a perfect office depends on the occupant. With about 38% of office buildings redesigning or rebuilding office space last year, and 30% planning to expand in the next few years, according to the International Facility Management Association, it is something many will be attempting to create.

Write to Sue Shellenbarger at sue.shellenbarger@wsj.com

The Five-Star Hotel, by Gensler

HQ: San Francisco

3,000 employees

Recent Clients: Proskauer, BASF, Ogilvy + Mather

A modern, polished metal-and-glass office plans aims for the ambience of a five-star hotel, while also sending a message that its occupant, a senior manager and working mother, wants her employees to be “more collaborative and less siloed,” says Mark Morton, a design principal.

The executive’s family photos are part of a changeable display on an interactive wall screen, and her personal items can be tucked out of sight behind blind wall panels. That permits her to erase her stamp on the office during 65% of the time she is out or on the road, opening up the space for use as a conference room. “This sets the tone that she is part of the team, and not above it. The space is both her office, and everyone’s,” says Johnathan Sandler, a workplace strategist.

•1. Ceiling light levels can be adjusted to vary intensity and conserve energy

• 2. Personal photos can be easily cleared so others can use the office when manager is away.

•3. Sliding glass door can be kept open to encourage collaboration, or closed for conference calls or meetings.

•4. Side walls are partly glass so managers can see each other.

•5. Personal items are stored behind blind panels to protect the manager’s privacy.

•6. Sound-masking system reduces noise and keeps conversations private.

•7. Underfloor air conditioning allows personal control of temperature.

•8. Interactive screen for teleconferencing and other displays.

•9. Wireless connectivity for computer, keypad and controls for custom lighting, air and music setting.

The Living Room, by PDR

HQ: Houston

63 Employees

Recent Clients: Exxon Mobil, Eaton, Accenture

An office envisioned for a middle manager at an energy or consulting company has a living-room feel. Personal photos and art can be displayed on paneled walls flanking a flat-screen TV monitor. The office has zones for concentration, contemplation and collaboration, the firm says. Both team meetings and solo work happen around a multipurpose “kitchen table” that adjusts to working either standing up or sitting down. In a corner reserved for “contemplation,” a lounge chair is protected by an acoustical dome that allows privacy while listening to music. To open up “the box,” an entire wall of foldable glass panels stands open most of the time, making the office “an open extension of the workplace,” says Joanne Taylor, president of PDR.

•1. ‘Kitchen table’ used for meetings and solo work, adjusting to standing or sitting height.

•2. Living-room zone with TV monitor, personal photos and storage is set apart by wood flooring.

•3. CEO Workstation

•4. Quiet area with lounge chairs for contemplation.

•5. Display screen for meetings, shared-laptop display and whiteboard.

•6. Suspended light box provides soft, adjustable light.

The Sunlit Sanctuary, by Studios Architecture

HQ: Washington, D.C.

225 employees

Recent Clients: News Corp., Grey Group, U.S. General Services Administration

Design by the firm’s New York office provides flexible seating and plenty of space for teamwork. Its occupant, the CEO of an international media company who is of Indian descent, travels heavily and wants her work space to feel like a sanctuary for catching up on email, planning and collaborative work. It is organized around principles of Vastu, an Indian method believed to align design with principles of nature. “There is a spiritual side” to the setup, says Studios CEO Todd DeGarmo. Erin Ruby, an associate principal, says it aims to “create some sense of calm in an world that is so chaotic.” Reducing carbon emissions is a major goal. Fresh air can flow through operable windows accented with succulent plants. Louvered shades maximize sunlight to cut electricity use.

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•1. Light shelf and exterior louvered shade admit sunlight without glare.

•2. Antique Turkish rug adds warmth and color.

•3. Collaboration table incorporates CEO workspace in one corner.

•4. Succulent plants help remove toxins from the air.

•5. Perimeter bench adds flexible seating.

•6. Glass transom opens automatically to exhaust air when needed.

•7. Glass walls to neighboring CFO’s office and hallway can be opaque or clear.

The Idea Inspirer, by VOA Associates

HQ: Chicago

250 employees

Recent Clients: Paul Hastings, Adams Street Partners, XL Insurance

The futuristic design was envisioned for a CEO of a 150-employee fashion design company that aims to turn out a steady stream of creative new products, says Nick Luzietti, a design principal. Because this executive must juggle executive, operating and creative duties, her office has lots of moving parts. It is equipped to morph from a conventional business office with a desk and conference table to a team workroom for design projects. Each evening, the executive can fold all the furniture and equipment back into the walls or floor, creating a “clean slate” to help spark fresh thinking when she arrives the next morning, Mr. Luzietti says. In a “tongue-in-cheek” gesture, VOA made the conference table in a heart shape to symbolize the emotional center of the business, where employees must invest both personal and professiopnal energy to maintain their creative edge, he says.

•1.Interactive screen for display and videoconferencing.

•2. Desktops can be recessed into this wall.

•3. Panels conceal storage and surfaces on which personal items and photos are displayed.

•4. Touch-screen table surface activates desktops, racks, rods, and videoconferencing gear.

•5. Worktop serves as a conference table as well as an adjustable desk for use while sitting or standing.

•6. Door to glass interior wall can be kept open to encourage co-worker communication.