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Can you give insight on how you landed the job? Trying to land 1st Year Associate gig myself.

 

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. 

 

By associate 2 you mean, this is your second year on the job right? 

 

Can you give insight on how you landed the job? Trying to land 1st Year Associate gig myself.

 

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). 

 
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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:

  • 2016 - Analyst 1 in middle office(started in July after graduating): base 70k (annualized), bonus 5k
  • 2017 - Analyst 2 in middle office: base 72k, bonus 20k
  • 2018 - Analyst 2 in research: base: 90k, bonus 20k
  • 2019 - Analyst 3: base 95k, bonus 30k
  • 2020 - Associate 1: base 125k, bonus 35k
  • 2021 - Associate 2: base 140k, bonus 55k
  • 2022 - Associate 3: base 200k, bonus 50k (base's got re-rated in the industry)
  • 2023 - VP 1: base 205k, bonus TBD
 

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/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. 

 

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.

 

Dafuq is this title inflation. How are you a VP 2 years out of college

 

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.

 

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.

 

Always depends on your team. Most people (analysts and whoever else) work 50-70 hours a week. That's team and season dependent.

 

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. 

 

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. 

 

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