Am I being undercompensated?

I'm starting at an Asset Management/hybrid credit hedge fund in a European country with €2-10bn AUM as an investment analyst. I have 2 years working in M&A in New York and ~1 year in PE. Went to an Ivy undergrad and also have a masters degree. My total comp, including bonus, will be around $110-$130k, depending on the exchange rate (bad time to get paid in non-USD right now).

Talking to some friends, doing some looking around online, I was under the impression someone at this sort of position should expect at least $150k in total comp. There are complicating factors, such as differing tax rates, government subsidized benefits, etc. that skew country-specific compensation levels, but I wanted to get a sense of what you all thought. Happy to share more in a pm - don't want to reveal too much publicly.

Thanks!

8 Comments
 
Best Response

Short answer - yes, a bit. Longer answer, if it's a good seat don't worry it for 2015, maybe even 2016. Work hard and get the experience. If by middle of 2016 (for that y/e) or early 2017 you've proven yourself there are countless ways to make it known you believe (and have evidence) your comp is under market - a reasonable firm will want to keep their people for what (for them) is a fairly meaningless amount of 50-100k. You can find a lot of literature about how to approach this tactfully, but don't think doing it until you are established in the seat and have proven yourself valuable to the team. At that point you'll also have the experience to move to another fund at higher pay pt if you're hitting a wall at the current shop.

 

Thanks HedgeHog, that's about what I was thinking. They have multiple strategies incl. long only, long/short/derivatives, lending, leveraged loans - so I figure work hard and get smart on them in 1-2 years and then re-discuss. Seems like a good shop/culture so I'm not terribly upset about being a bit undercut... but at the same time it is frustrating.

 

Everybody is under paid in this economy... Firms want you to work harder, not get OT, and not pay you what you deserve. Even if I get my license I'm already expected to not get paid more... That's the reality.

Greed is Good!
 

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