What's a good salary for internship as an analyst in an asset management firm

Hi all,

I interviewed for a internship as a financial analyst with an asset management firm in New York. However, the salary I am offered is 20000 USD for a 12 week period. The portfolio manager who interviewed me told me that I will interact with everyone in the team. I was concerned about the salary. Is that a standard pay? Please let me know. Thanks.

Regards

30 Comments
 

The salary reflects that they expect you to come in as unskilled and not very productive, and they want to give you a several month interview, but don't want to miss out on candidates because summer camp or a fast food restaurant would better help pay college tuition. We are monstrously profitable, manage more than that, and I don't think we even paid the Wharton grad school intern with a decade industry experience that we had in my department that much last summer.

$20k for three months is $80k/yr. That is more than the average american family makes, and more than I made in my first job out of college. Consider yourself lucky.

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 

Thank you for your insight. I understand your point. It's just that someone told me that they pay interns for desk strategist position in BB about 30k for 3 month internship, so the inferred that probably this firm is not good. May be portfolio management has different hiring standards. Does portfolio management firms hire specifically from interns? Do you have any suggestions for me how to ace this opportunity? Thanks.

 

I think you're missing the point - JSC pays better than banks - does that mean BB interns are also being underpaid? No.. your market value is what you're able to get an offer for. If you're good enough to get into JSC, and they give you an offer, then yeah, this one is under your value. I don't mean this personally, but since it sounds like you haven't gotten other/better offers, I assume you aren't good enough - which means your value is not what those firms pay.

That said, especially at the intern level, money should be your last concern.. Would you prefer a $40k summer cleaning toilets or an unpaid internship at D.E.Shaw?

Anyways, as others have said, you really just need to appreciate the opportunity and make the most of it.

Best of luck -

 

A valuable life lesson - you cannot compare Desk Strategist (whatever that means) at a BB to a Portfolio Management role at an Asset Manager.

Yes - they're both in 'finance,' but two entirely different roles in firms that serve two completely different purposes (Asset Managers operate much different than a Bank). You cannot compare apples and oranges.

 

Hi Bateman*3,

Thank you for answering my question. What differences do they have in general? I know people in BB as a desk strat and hence I am aware of their experience. I am relatively new to asset management. Also, I was told that people who join bonds rather than equity tend to become portfolio manager at an early stage. However, the people who join quantitative based equity long-short strategies tend to take a longer time period to become a portfolio manager. Could you please explain this? Thank you.

Regards

 
"moni123" Thank you for your insight. I understand your point. It's just that someone told me that they pay interns for desk strategist position in BB about 30k for 3 month internship, so the inferred that probably this firm is not good. May be portfolio management has different hiring standards. Does portfolio management firms hire specifically from interns? Do you have any suggestions for me how to ace this opportunity? Thanks.

Go shoot yourself

 

Internships are all about exposure and experience.

I've had unpaid internships at no name firms, only so I can leverage my time there for similar internships at more structured companies.

$20,000 is fantastic, when you consider the limited benefits that you will bring to the firm (sorry, it's just part of being an intern).

Ignore my Title and Industry - I can't seem to change it under 'Edit Profile' lol
 

What I'm gonna tell you is that I did my summer internship last year with 18.5/hour. It's a great asset management company, and the portfolio manager whom I worked for ended up with 14% yield in 2017, which is a quite remarkable result for fixed income portfolio.

Just keep in mind that summer internship is not about money, but about gaining experience. You will make much more than that in you FT. So be humble and say thanks to the manager who offered you 20k for just 12 weeks.

 

I am going to refrain from ripping into you personally - telling you how blind you are to how the world works, what an incredible opportunity you have and how selfish/unaware you come off as by asking "oh am I underpaid at $20k even though in reality - I am an intern and will likely take up other's people time, therefore, costing the firm MORE than just my salary."

So, in short...yes $20k is very good pay for an intern

 

I was paid $7k for the same period for one of my first internships. Hope that makes you feel better.

Oh, and by the way, just in case you're wondering, I couldn't be happier to receive and accept that offer.

 
"moni123" Hi all,

I interviewed for a internship as a financial analyst with an asset management firm in New York. However, the salary I am offered is 20000 USD for a 12 week period. The portfolio manager who interviewed me told me that I will interact with everyone in the team. I was concerned about the salary. Is that a standard pay? Please let me know. Thanks.

Regards

Dude...like others have said, that's the equivalent of an $80k annual salary. Many internships are unpaid, and most don't come anywhere close to an $80k/year equivalent. Not sure if you're trolling or just extremely detached from reality.

 
Funniest

Velit nostrum eligendi debitis minus. Beatae expedita velit consectetur odit ut. Quidem autem placeat sed fugit a. Hic repudiandae a libero necessitatibus laborum aut.

Nesciunt possimus voluptatem deserunt sapiente quos. Quia cumque ut eum aut dolores. Doloremque sint voluptatem ut quis.

Et molestiae qui quod et est est. Qui dolor quia voluptas quas numquam.

 

Sunt dolores vero et voluptates reiciendis. Nobis autem ullam molestiae corporis quia rerum est. Totam sapiente placeat animi reiciendis eius quis. Consequatur eaque voluptatibus architecto ab iure qui. Ea quas sit neque ea hic sunt dolores modi. Autem asperiores et quibusdam at et eaque. Totam quos sed facilis consequatur.

Perferendis maiores quo voluptatem quisquam ut enim est. Quibusdam ut enim autem vel. Autem cupiditate id aut sint omnis iure ut.

Nobis exercitationem at animi rerum molestiae. Nostrum autem pariatur ipsa laborum. Consequatur perspiciatis cum omnis vel ut voluptatem magni. Voluptates ea reprehenderit quidem quidem. Ex sit delectus laboriosam perspiciatis reiciendis ex. Nisi ut aliquam tenetur ut id repudiandae consequatur atque.

Enim dolorem et voluptatem molestiae beatae sed nisi. Magnam omnis ut aut. Non esse id temporibus.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”