Hi all,
I’m currently interviewing for a Big 4 multi-manager platform to join a new pod and wanted to get some perspective from people who have been through this.
Offer details:
- Base salary: USD 225k
- Signing bonus: USD 500k total
- USD 300k upfront
- USD 200k after 1 year
Background / disclaimer:
- ~10 years of experience in equity research
- All of my experience is buy-side / hedge fund in Brazil
- First role outside Brazil and first time in a Big 4 pod structure
I’d appreciate thoughts on a few points:
- Termination risk:
Realistically, what’s the probability of getting cut within the first 6–12 months in a new pod at a Big 4? - Signing bonus downside:
- If I’m let go before 12 months, do I typically lose the remaining USD 200k?
- Is it common to have to repay the USD 300k upfront if terminated (without cause)?
- How enforceable are these clawbacks in practice?
- Base salary treatment:
If the pod shuts down or I’m cut mid-year, do people usually get pro-rated base, or can that also be at risk depending on contract language? - Overall assessment:
Given my background (solid experience, but no prior Big 4 / international platform exposure), does this comp look:- market / fair
- aggressive (high risk / high churn expectation)
- or actually conservative for a Big 4 pod?
Any insight from PMs, analysts, or people who have seen similar structures would be very helpful.
Thanks in advance.
seems fair but hard to say if fair or good for you. Without any other information, estimate 50% probability of a new pod getting canned within 2y.
If you’re decent they’ll try to repod you. Basically pretty clear that you need to be paid 2x your annual expected value to compensate for the probability of doughnut.
You have a clawback on both the bonuses? For how long? How long is your NC? How is your comp structured post guarantees? Purely discretionary?
Yes so pod HF isn’t the promised land after all.
Would assume the sign-on bonus reflects OP’s deferred comp earned in past years, which is now at risk given clawback x probability of pod going bust & unlikelihood of next pod after that making him whole.
That pods have been known to go bust in 6-12m time frames yet still has clawbacks is somewhat counterintuitive (= party with lower credit quality asks for a covenant) but it is what it is…
This is a very typical/solid pod offer. This is the package you’d expect for a mid-level pod analyst, sometimes will come with a % of pnl if you have a few years of experience. I don’t think that you should worry about the pnl expectations or hurdle, the bonus is likely coming from their platform’s hiring subsidy/launch budget but you could always ask if this is being paid through a reach ahead or not. Your contract should spell out the terms around the bonus in year 2 in a scenario you are fired and it’s not at all a problem just to ask BD to clarify, but I assume your PM has a 1-3 year deal in place to keep the team up and running for a couple years at the start and the phasing of the bonus is just to keep you in your seat for at least the launch, assume there’s a non compete and/or a clawback period which you should be on top of. Expect 1/4-1/3 of new launch teams don’t survive after 2 years, half or more by 4 years. If your team is closed down you might take a zero if the platform drops you or the standard underwhelming analyst re-homing bonus if they find you another seat, but go into it assuming you get rehired at another platform with a new sign-on package if they don’t keep you. This is a small market and once you’re vetted and in the mix there will continue to be opportunities as long as you are easy to work with and can demonstrate you don’t lose money (and that you have a good buy side reputation/not an ass… don’t underestimate this part of it). If you aren’t comfortable with the risk in this seemingly solid year 1 package you won’t be comfortable with the risk taking in the job. FYI - this was a detailed enough comp package and background on you for any BD team to figure out who you are so just be mindful they may be reading it.
If you are terminated within 12 months without cause, then you should not have to pay back 300k. Thats not how it works. If you resign, then yes, you give it back.
The probability of pod being cut within 18 months is quite high, definitely higher than 40%. I would say if the pod is new, it would take 9-12 months to start trading, so you should be able to get your 200k bonus after 12m.
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