Starting Salary Equity Research in the South

Hi. I am about to graduate from Undergrad college in Florida next year, and may look to get an entry level equity research associate job at Raymond James at that time. I have a good GPA, no MBA obviously, and a summer internship at a financial company under my belt, but i have no idea what the starting salary would be at RJ.

Can someone tell me what the approximate range of salary (or salary + bonus) would be at Raymond James for an entry level Equity Research Associate position? Since it is in the South and an entry level position i am thinking starting salary would be about $45,000/year plus a $10k annual bonus. Does that sound about right? Too low/high? We are talking tampa, fl here not NY, NY.

thanks

 

The pre-assigned bonus is disconcerting IMO. While salary is low, your background puts you on a faster track to analyst (if that's your goal) so your salary can double quickly and you would enter a different bonus pool. Also, the immediate value that new guys add in ER is limited as they learn the industry and the process so that might be factored in. If you want to do ER at a boutique in the South, you'll have to get used to being under-compensated, sometimes very much so, compared to any #s you see thrown out about NYC or BBs.

 
Best Response
Dank Nugs:
The pre-assigned bonus is disconcerting IMO. While salary is low, your background puts you on a faster track to analyst (if that's your goal) so your salary can double quickly and you would enter a different bonus pool. Also, the immediate value that new guys add in ER is limited as they learn the industry and the process so that might be factored in. If you want to do ER at a boutique in the South, you'll have to get used to being under-compensated, sometimes very much so, compared to any #s you see thrown out about NYC or BBs.

This is spot on. I would also add that it's pretty rare to see a sign-on bonus in ER outside of the BBs.

 

maybe add the monthly rent differential (between south and NY) to your salary to get a sense of what it's worth. Outside of Miami, Atlanta, housing will cost you around $36k less annually.

 

That isn't bad at all. $90k/yr in a place like Dallas is about the equivalent of $150k+ in New York. The cost of living differences are just astounding, it's not just the cost of housing. Things like insurance, restaurants ($10 entrees instead of $50 entrees), bars ($20 drinks vs $3 drinks), are just immense and add up quickly. Not to mention the tax climates are much friendlier, and you keep a MUCH larger proportion of that 90k vs the 150k in NYC. Plus, you can get a McMansion in Dallas for $400k, or a broom closet in NYC for $1 million.

That's one of the major flaws with things like business school rankings - they make you think that the guys in the schools that average $120k are awesome, and that the $90k schools are losers, but the $120 guys are almost all going to high cost of living cities, where there's huge representation at the southern schools in places that cost almost nothing to enjoy a very high standard of living.

 

What Fulorian said

The overall cost of living in places that do have some good ER work are so much cheaper than NYC that the pay difference is negligible unless all you care about is the total number. Nashville, Atlanta, and Charlotte are all dirt cheap while being good places to live. Of course that 4 bedroom house will be in the burbs with a bad commute, but overall it's not a bad situation (Just not for me. I'd give up a toe or two to move back to NYC from NC)

 

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