ER Compensation 2022/2023
Figured I would start this out since I have not seen any other threads on this years comp/bonus.
Format Example
Title/YOE:
Rank:
Firm Type/Size:
Base/Bonus:
City Description:
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YOE: 1 / 2 Total in Finance
MM
Base: $110
Bonus: $40
NYC
Can you give insight on how you landed the job? Trying to land 1st Year Associate gig myself.
Del
Senior associate - 175 base 35k bonus
Bumped to VP, 225k base. Expecting at least 50% here on out
What size firm and how many years of experience?
My guess is BB. Also wouldn’t get my hopes up for 50%+ unless you have some names under coverage, even just a handful. No reason to pay you a bigger % without you doing more work, your dollar amount just goes up because your base is higher.
Should get a few names this year. BB.
How many years of experience and what sector?
Energy/commodities related and 3 total in research. 2 in accounting/consulting
1st yr associate in nyc - $83k base, $5k stub @ LMM but getting $10k raise in next couple of weeks
Pay is well below street, pretty disappointing
Can you give insight on how you landed the job? Trying to land 1st Year Associate gig myself.
Sounds like Webush/Piper Sandler
These comp numbers are pretty wild. I entertained an interview process for my industry vertical where a highly regarded analyst left to a new bank and he's trying to build out his team....help me understand why he thinks it makes sense to pay someone for financial services work LESS than a mid-level manager at a private corporate?
How big was the firm you were interviewing with, and what was the comp range?
UMM I guess? Not sure what the delineation between the firms are....think a William Blair/Baird/Jefferies type of bank. Senior Associate ranging from $115-140 base and 30% bonus....currently a manager in industry making well above the top end of that range.
Unfortunately, that appears to be on par. I am making less than that with 2 years of ER experience, 3 prior years of experience in Advisory at a big accounting firm, and I have the CFA charter. Definitely feel under compensated.
An1 Base at the BBs is 110k. Bonus in first year in previous years was like 30%+ (this year it was definitely not that). So yeah, undercompensated at that level of experience. CFA charter is irrelevant though, no one's going to pay you more for that.
How many YoE is senior associate? How would that amount scale over time? Surprised to see ER pay is relatively on par with corporate.
Like if it's market, it's market. But also he like scoffed when I told him what my expectations were? You want me to take a title demotion, work more, and get paid less? That math ain't mathin' my guy. If you want someone with tangible experience in my technical industry, you're going to have to pay up.
Assoc / 2ish yrs
working for top ranked analyst (industrials)
$125K base / 30% bonus
BB
By associate 2 you mean, this is your second year on the job right?
yes. 2nd year on job (2 YOE total - first job out of school)
Can you give insight on how you landed the job? Trying to land 1st Year Associate gig myself.
Associate (1st year) MM 130K base ~20K bonus this year in Biotech
How many total YE in ER? And how many YE post-graduate?
First year in ER two years in CF before that out of undergrad
Not giving numbers for various reasons but to add some colour, comp this year was ass and is down across regions and sectors. It's a bad year for most people. This is far from a "normal" year (but last year also wasn't a "normal" year either).
del
I think at BB it’s normally around 10% - 15% of your base pay. For example, first year @ $110k and second year @ $125k
In terms of bonuses, how are you guys feeling about 2023? Do you feel like it will get worse before it gets better?
Worse before better.
4.5 YOE
Boutique
115k base/ 60k bonus
NYC
Obviously a different base/bonus structure than most, a little disappointed on TC given YOE, but given it was a down year, not too bad.
YOE: ~6 months (graduated class of 2022)
Analyst 1
Bulge Bracket
Base + Signing + Performance = $110k + 10k + 20k
NYC
20k annualized or for half the year?
Few months late, but could you give me any insight to your path to ER. Currently a college student who has become interested in the field.
Bonus was ok, was very disappointed in the base raise. VP promotion was basically a title promotion only lol
Assoc 3 promoted to VP
Base: 200k --> 205k
Bonus: 45k cash, 5k RSUs (vs 50k cash, 5k RSUs last year)
BB covering Fins if that helps
How many years of experience (in ER and overall)? Do you mind sharing your base salary progression?
1.5 years in middle office at a BB, then 4.5 years in research (so 6 YOE total). Base salaries got rerated at most firms in 2022, I'd add ~25k to any salary prior to 2021 for a comp to today. My comp progression was as follows:
Can you give insight on how you landed the job? Trying to land 1st Year Associate gig myself.
Title/YOE: 2nd year analyst
Rank: Top 3 ii analyst
Firm Type/Size: BB
Base/Bonus: $110k + $65k
City Description: T1
This is quite impressive, even for top 3 ii. Anything of else to note with the impressive comp figures?
0 YOE
MM
110K / 10-20k
NYC
Can you give insight on how you landed the job? Trying to land 1st Year Associate gig myself.
Sure. Seems from your other post you’re pretty committed/passionate about the role. So assuming you keep up with the industry and know how to pass the technical aspects, the hardest part is getting that first interview.
I didn’t go to a target school and I had no meaningful internship/experience at all coming out of undergrad (was premed). I did about 2 years in academic biology research while I was looking to apply, but on that second year I realized I didn’t really want to go to medical school. I reformatted my resume and started cold applying on LinkedIn and reaching out to any alumni in IB/ER, looking specifically for those in the healthcare industry.
I think I sent 100+ applications and dozens of messages, ended up only with 1 interview and a couple of networking calls, one of which the guy said if I was still looking he would refer me to his firm (boutique healthcare IB).
So I guess I got lucky, because I ended up getting an offer for the only interview I received. But I’d also like to think my story of why ER was compelling, as I could tie together everything I did even without concrete finance experience, and I passed the finance and writing tests they threw my way.
if you’re extremely passionate as you say, then start grinding applications and networking, and realize that no matter how many people ghost you/how many times you get rejected, you only need one to offer you. Once you get that chance though, make sure your story is fleshed out (especially why biotech ER, don’t give a generic answer make it unique to you) and that you’re ready for any tests they might throw at you.
Title: Associate
YOE: 5 yrs in IR, <1 yr in ER
Firm Type/Size: Middle Market
Base/Bonus: $120K/$5K
City Description: NYC
Title/YOE: Associate 1; 7 months on sell-side and 4 years on buy-side
Rank: 22/73 (we are ranked across the whole of research services)
Firm Type/Size: Boutique (Think Bernstein, Redburn, Exane etc)
Base/Bonus: £95k/£29k (30%)
City Description: London
I work in the #1 ranked team in the firm so bonus reflected that. I also have 2 names under my coverage. Fairly happy with the bonus considering the absolute dog sh*t year in markets in 2022.
4 years but associate 1? Why would you go to sell side for this title? But congrats on the bonus in a shitty year!
coverage within 7 months - isn't that super super fast? even w 4 YOE
Yeah usually that would be considered quite fast vs the average. However, the two names under my coverage were high conviction longs while I was at the hedge fund. The fund followed a detailed bottom-up approach and I covered those two stocks for 4 years. So I knew them pretty well and so ramping up to coverage wasn't too difficult.
I'd also add that my sector head likes to test your potential as a covering analyst early on. His view is that there is no point in solely building models for 3/4 years without any report writing or client interaction.
Just to get this question out there - from the other post we have for London comp, I interpreted starting (0 YOE) to be 65-75 with a market bonus between 40 and 80 percent. Your numbers don't reflect that.
Am I misunderstanding something - is the boutique pay relatively poor vs. BB, or what was the point in going SS with no visible shift in comp?
Which comp thread for London is this you are referring?
Boutique pay is generally lower vs BB. However, our pay is being rebased on account of being acquired by a European IB (prob gives away which boutique I'm at). So I will be moving from associate 1 to 2 end of March and base pay will be £120k. If you look at the average buy-side house base pay it is probably in the range of £60-70k for 3-5 YOE. Sure bonus can be higher but depends on a lot of hidden factors. For example, the firm may be plowing back profits into the firm by hiring, investment into technology etc. So your bonus is not always a multiple of your annual salary on the buy side.
I moved to this specific house to eventually internally transfer to the IB side with the ultimate goal of moving to PE or venture capital. I think capital is flowing out of public markets and into private markets more aggressively. So that's where I hope to end up.
No one is getting paid an 80% bonus as a grad in ER (even pre-base raise). Heck, I don't think anyone got paid even close to 40% this year.
Based on this year, 70-90k TC is a reasonable expectations. Who knows if that goes up in a better year.
The general perception is that most would prefer to be on the buy-side over the sell-side given the choice. If you want the opportunity to pick stocks and try beat the market then buy-side is the better route obviously. However, I can tell you from experience and through my network that often comp is better on the sell-side. Base salaries are on average higher. Bonus can be higher on the buy-side but that also heavily depends on fund performance, not just your performance as an analyst. If you can get a seat at one of the coveted houses like citadel, millenium, point72 then great. But we all know the difficulty in getting into these places. Also titles generally mean less at the boutiques vs bulge brackets. Your road to coverage is more important. I know VPs at BB that have no coverage.
funny how "citadel millenium 72" are now "coveted names" when 2 years ago they were considered third tier leftover options for exits
The tide can change very quickly in the active management world.
Saying this, those funds have hardly ever been considered "third tier". They consistently land in the top quartile for performance and they have all just had an exceptional year in one of the worst bear markets in history.
Title/YOE: 2 YOE (2.5 yrs out of undergrad) - Associate --> Vice President
Firm Type/Size: MM
Base/Bonus (for '22): $125K / $85K; 40% base raise w/ promotion for '23
City Description: NYC
Bit of an outlier
Dafuq is this title inflation. How are you a VP 2 years out of college
Built different
Which MM firm is this? I’m a bit surprised that any reputable firm would grant VP promo in 2.5yr post college. At BB I’ve yet to seen any one gotten to VP without at least 4-5 years of ER experience post college.
Reputable firm. It hasn't been done before. Exception to every rule.
Middle market (tier 2 midwest city)
As 1
$130/30-50%
How many YOE
Title/YOE: Summer (0)
Firm Type/Size: IBAB/MM
Base: $90k (annualized)
City Description: Hong Kong
Better than expected for non-BB. From what I have heard, ER BB in HK pays ~10-20% more.
Title/YOE: New VP, 4yrs Biotech
Firm Type/Size: Boutique
Base/Bonus: 21' 150K, 22' 175 Base; Bonus (150K, '21, 110K '22)
City Description: NYC
Mind if I shoot you a PM?
Of course!
1st Year Analyst
Boutique
£55
~50% (based off what others at company told me)
London
YOE: 1-2
Base: 60k
Bonus: 10k
Paris office
YOE - 2nd year analyst
Firm - Small/micro HF
Base/bonus - 80k + 5k aud - roughly 55-60k $USD.
City - Sydney, Australia
1st Year Associate, NYC, 95 base/150 total
MM?
Yup
YOE: 2 (I started my career in the sell-side and spent there a year and a half, then moved to the buy-side for half a year and now I'm back in the sell-side)
Rank: Equity Research Analyst
Firm Type/Size: Top 10 in Europe (closest peers might be HSBC, Barclays, Société Générale, etc.)
Base/Bonus:€45k/TBD
City Description: Madrid
Title: Associate II
3 YOE Total (2 in industry prev.), 1 in ER
$125K Base + $15K Bonus
Financials Coverage
MM
NYC
Adding some desperately needed UK stats
Title/YOE: 1+
Rank: Analyst (as in Ana -> asso -> VP etc.)
Firm Type/Size: BB
Base/Bonus: £70/10
City Description: London
Comp is about as expected given the market. Not sure where we go from here but excited to see.
Associate 2 (2.5Y post MBA)
Fixed Income Research
Buy side - MM
Mid-sized city, Low CoL
125K Base
84K/68% Bonus
208,000 all in for 2023
2nd year analyst
BB
85k base -35k bonus
London
Sell-side Analyst, 1yr, 100k base, 15k bonus, DC
Are there many SS ER spots in DMV? Not tryna dox if you cant answer, or feel free to PM. I just looking to leave NYC but wanna stay in ER
YoE: New grad
Firm: Quant
Base: $125k
Bonus: $70k
HCOL
67.5k
5k bonus
1 yeo
YOE: 12 total (8 in ER). I probably am too old for this
Firm Type/Size: BB
Base/Bonus: Base $200-210k; Bonus 110% of base
City Description: NYC
MD / VP? Sector?
Sector is energy (broadly speaking). I really don't want to get too specific on this forum.
VP level equivalent. But given inconsistency in naming convention across firms, I will note that there would be 2 promotions needed for me to hit MD level. Most MDs are very very senior. I know 50 year old senior analysts who have been doing the job for 2+ decades not yet reaching MD. That's another level of comp entirely.
Pretty impressive numbers for this year... Any "one-offs" haha?
I expect my comp to be pretty similar when 2023 bonuses are paid (in early 2024). Bonus might be down a little given market conditions. Perhaps 90-100% of base. In my ER career I have had 2 major step-changes in comp driven by my team moving and/or getting another bid. Once you establish a new comp level the fluctuations +/- from year to year tend to be minimal.
YOE: 1Q
Salary (annualized): 120
Bonus: 30
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