Is this true : your views on it

equity research department is considered a cost centre for the bank, so they don't get "big" bonuses, unlike their counterparts in corporate finance/M&A, which are the revenue centres for the bank.

9 Comments
 

Cost Center? Not exactly.

Define big bonuses? Top analysts are making over $2 million, top associates at bulges are making $300k+

And that is primarily working between 7am and 6pm. Spent 6 years in equity research 3 at a BB and 3 at a smaller shop. I can count the number of times I was in the office past 9pm on one hand.

Not a bad way to make a living.

 

Going by a strict definition of "ture," and given the possible things you described in your post, Im going to have to say I see no correlation between this and ture.

“...all truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” - Schopenhauer
 
seabirdGoing by a strict definition of "ture," and given the possible things you described in your post, Im going to have to say I see no correlation between this and ture.
now what
 
Best Response

I'll second what skibum said. I rarely work more than 60 hours a week and very rarely work weekends. I get paid the same base as IB analysts with the same experience and my bonus will likely range from 50-100% of my salary. While an IB analyst/associate with equal experience will likely clear 20-50k more than me, I'll have worked 1-2000 fewer hours over the course of a year. There's no price to that. The only rational argument I can see for one choosing IB over ER, at least at the BB level, is for exit ops. They are materially better for IB because there is a clear roadmap to PE and to some extent, HF jobs. Exiting ER can be a tricky situation but top PE/HF jobs can also be had. None of this holds for boutique ER because salaries and exit ops are not at parity with BB's.

 

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