2018 /2019 Bonus Discussion

That time of year again. Banks have finished their fiscal year and should be close to payout time (BMO / RBC / others?)

Thought might be good to start a thread to see where comp is shaking out. I realize WSO has a database, but in an effort to keep things blinded and semi-real time lets post here. Please fill out the WSO comp survey as well, though!

Would be helpful if we kept a similar format:

Title: (As / VP / D / MD and year being paid on)
Rank: (Top / Mid / Bottom)
Bank type: (BB / EB / MM)
$:
% Cash:
Notes:

 

Just because he’s at a Canadian bank doesn’t mean he’s at a Canadian office.

CIBC and TD apparently don’t pay like RBC in the US.

BMO might be hurting a bit this year, but not sure.

No clue on scotia.

 

Yeah, I have no idea why the MS either??? People on this site can be weird sometimes.

Regardless, I'll post my BO info. Just got word that my discussion will take place the first full week of January so I might know more at that time.

 
Wolfofgeorgestreet:
BO bonus would be like $15

This idiocy has to stop. We are not in 2003.

If you're in a risk function, a fed-facing role, or a programming role, you can make a terrific living while working humane hours and have far more job security than a banker or trader.

I know people who work in CCAR as analysts that pull in $150k, they usually work a lot during Q1 but otherwise it seems like 50-55 hour weeks are the norm.

 
Private_Equiteer:
Want to make sure I'm reading this correctly - you got $380k all in as a second year associate? Mind providing the region (NYC, SF, Midwest, etc.)?

If you really got $380k all in and all cash - congrats, that is more than most PE senior associates will be paid.

Northeast, non-NYC, at a "top" MM. Our group had a record year.

 
Punchey:
I'm responsible for managing the lateral hire process in my group and have had a number of discussions recently with headhunters. In general, according to these headhunters, comp is up year over year and people are generally happy. Makes recruiting a pain

That's a bit surprising, seems like the media is reporting it is flat to down.

 

Data point from 2017

Title: As 1 Rank: Mid Bank type: BB $: 75K % Cash: 90% Notes: $150K base, moving to $175K; pissed, moved to buy-side

I'm grateful that I have two middle fingers, I only wish I had more.
 

M&A. Yes, as a third year analyst in another group (same bank), I got 96K. you can imagine how good I felt...

As a reference, Mid+ was 100K

I'm grateful that I have two middle fingers, I only wish I had more.
 

In spite of all the MS I got for asking if it was cool to post BO, I'm still going to share my numbers. In fact, I turned it into an AMA for BO work: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/ama-mid-career-professional-to-t…

TLDR: Top bucket in BO at BB, 4% rise in base, 10% bonus on $115K. Sure, you guys dwarf me but it's an office I like, MD actually knows my name, insane amount of time off that I actually get to use and never have to work more than 40 hours/week.

 

There's no easy answer to that. That will all depend on the experience you bring to the table and the BO function you are in. The range is simply too broad to properly answer your question

 

Thanks for the support. One more thing I forgot to add is that I fudged my numbers just a little bit to throw off any co-workers that may be on WSO. But the relative values remain the same and give a fair representation of BO

I suppose you’re right on the hourly take and all that. I get the same benefits as IB and I’m free to use mine and my bosses never give me crap when they have to approve the time off. I also wrote a post on how slow BO is in December - this past December was like a very, very long Christmas party every day in the office :-) I realize that most FO cannot say that.

 

Hey, son, look above. you see that blue underlined text? That’s called a “link” - it IS in another thread.

Try and keep up, kiddo.

 

Some reference points from a top 3 BB for this year:

Title: Asc 2 Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB Group: Industry Coverage Location: NY Base: 175 Bonus: 105% Cash %: 80% Note: Top ranked got 125% bonus

Title: Asc 3 Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB Group: Industry Coverage Location: NY Base: 200 Bonus: 105% Cash %: 80% Note: Top ranked got 125% bonus

Title: Asc 1 Rank: 3/5 Bank: BB Group: Capital Markets (i.e. ECM, DCM, LevFin) Location: LDN Base: 90 GBP Bonus: 80% Cash %: Unknown

Title: Asc 2 Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB Group: M&A Location: Continental Europe Base: 150 EUR Bonus: 100 EUR

I'm grateful that I have two middle fingers, I only wish I had more.
 

Now this is helpful, thank you Interestingly US comp is significantly higher vs Europe I assume all the data points reflect the same BB?

- MVP
 

Yes, same. BB. Europe is a bit f* up recently because of USD strength vs. GBP. The base is traditionally fixed GBP and then they give you a bonus which should lead to a total comp which is 'aligned' with US is USD. Reality is that in European BB (excluding maybe few names) it is extremely rare to have bonus >100% of your base at analyst / associate (with 100% bonus being a cap). The result is that Base in GBP + 100% bonus is still NY 175 base + 175 bonus = 350; in Europe you would make 105 + 105 = 210 GBP and at current FX that is 280 USD. In 2014 with FX at 1.6, the GBP comp was aligned to US.

I'm grateful that I have two middle fingers, I only wish I had more.
 
cruel3a:
Some reference points from a top 3 BB for this year:

Title: Asc 2 Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB Group: Industry Coverage Location: NY Base: 175 Bonus: 105% Cash %: 80% Note: Top ranked got 125% bonus

Title: Asc 3 Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB Group: Industry Coverage Location: NY Base: 200 Bonus: 105% Cash %: 80% Note: Top ranked got 125% bonus

Title: Asc 1 Rank: 3/5 Bank: BB Group: Capital Markets (i.e. ECM, DCM, LevFin) Location: LDN Base: 90 GBP Bonus: 80% Cash %: Unknown

Title: Asc 2 Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB Group: M&A Location: Continental Europe Base: 150 EUR Bonus: 100 EUR

Regarding the last two (London & Continental Europe): Is 150k EUR really common at a top 3 BB, Asc 2 level? And the bonus seems pretty high also. I believe in Continental Europe starting with EUR 40-50k (Ass1 level) is normal. In London, Analysts also start with some 40-50k I believe... Then again, I'm not an expert on this matter.

 
WanderingWanchai:
Title: Asc 3 Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB Group: M&A Location: HK Base: USD$240 Bonus: USD$155

What my bank does is try to normalize comp post taxes (which is kinda shitty but make sense I guess and this is atleast what HR has told me...) my HK total income taxes are 12% vs. plus 40% in the U.S.

Before people jump over this 240 USD base, HK cost of housing is higher than NY.

I'm grateful that I have two middle fingers, I only wish I had more.
 

Title: AS3 (2018) Rank: Top Bank: MM Base: $175k Bonus: $265k % Cash: 100% Notes: Promoted

 

Thank you very much.

The annual conversation includes promotion (if applicable), review and compensation - one chat.

 

It is, indeed! Honestly, I felt incredibly appreciative and was very pleased with the number.

We had a tremendous year as a bank and team, and it required a significant amount of personal sacrifice. Thankfully the bank recognized that and stepped up meaningfully.

 

Damn, you guys in the US. You seem to be getting insane bonuses. I actually question my ranking now having seen this thread. My salary converted to USD for comparison:

Title: AS1 (2017) Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB (Continental Europe) Base: $130 Bonus: $117 % Cash: 80%

The surest way to make a monkey of a man is to quote him.
 

A couple datapoints from friends (all NY, all industry coverage groups)

Title: Associate 1 Rank: Mid/Top Bank type: EB $: 200 % Cash: 80% Base: 150 -> 175

Title: Associate 2 Rank: Unknown Bank type: Mid-Tier BB $: 100 % Cash: 100% Base: 175 -> 200

Title: Associate 3 Rank: Top Bank type: Low-Tier BB $: 250 % Cash: Unknown Base: 200 -> VP1 (not sure)

Title: VP1 Rank: Mid Bank type: EB (different than above) $: 300 % Cash: 75% Base: 250 (Flat)

 

I'm confused when people say VP1 - was that your title for the whole year or just got promoted?

I got promoted to VP on 2/1/19

Rank: no idea

Bank: MM M&A

New base: $225K as of 2/1/19

Bonus: $250K - for 2018 I assume

All cash, plus we get profit sharing based on seniorty, ~$20K this year and I joined 3 yrs ago

Interested to know how that compares with other MM banks. Based in Midwest. Thanks.

 

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