Programmers (top programmers) are also drawn to the enormous compensation packages and bonuses that financial firms were offering in the 2000s - top talent in statistics, mathematics, engineering and programming went straight into the financial industry - and a lot of those guys ended up as the VPs of their perspective departments. So I agree with what you're saying if you're thinking about traditional banking (the Big Five) but Hedge Funds are generally made up of highly analytical, highly qualified nerdy types who dominate programming and computer science - we're talking top-of-class people drawn in by the money. They also work 80+ hours a week, so pick your poison!
Plus those old school investment banker types are perceived to be unintelligent simplistic Philistines who couldn't possibly know all the latest cool computing techniques (which would give a clever programmer some more leverage).