Why does everyone want to go to the Buyside?
I work in SS ER covering biotech. Currently I’m junior but lately have been thinking if I should move to the Buyside.
Everything I see on this forum is HF guys hardly breaking 1 M on a good year. Why can’t I just coast in ER and make $1.5-$2.5 million? If I’m really good then make $4-$8 million a year.
Call me crazy but a HF doesn’t seems crazy lucrative when I can already make million on the SS.
How about you go get a deep understanding of what it takes to become a Senior SS Analyst first and what their lifestyle is
Then re-assess do you really want to become a senior sell-side analyst?
Hmmm maybe you’re right.
Those comp ranges are also too high. To get to that level would also require much more legwork than coasting
The highest paid SS senior analyst right now within biotech, which is also one of the highest comping sector within finance SS ER, is $8 mn for 5 years.
$1-$2 mn definitely possible for SS ER. $5-$8 mn is defnitely the outlier, but representative of the absolute top of the industry. You will always be beholden to trading your time for money.
$20 mn/yr to $1 bn/yr is never possible on sell-side. It is possible on buyside. Certainly a tail outcome, but that's one draw for buyside. If you manage a $1 bn fund or larger, and there are a number of those, then comp in that range is a reality if your performance is decent. If your fund is successful enough, you can hire enough people to where you may oversee the processes and make the final decision, but most day to day operations are pushed to other people. You have equity in a business that can continue to generate profits as you enjoy life.
The other draw is that it's a very different job. In SS ER, you have two masters, buyside investors and corporates. Obviously, in many cases, these interests misalign. Part of your job as SS ER is walk the tightrope that is not having either side get too upset by what you are publicly (and often irrevocably) saying. At a HF, you have one job: make money for your clients. In many ways, it's a much simpler and straightforward job, but obviously execution is the differentiator.
are there senior people in SS ER that make 5-8mm a year? I've never heard of that, even among all the II ranked teams, etc. Thought they topped out around 1-2mm.
If you’re in biotech/Biopharma yes.
Guy at BofA is on $8 mil a year
ER can actually make that much? It feels like a made up profession, how do they add any value?
We just let bankers do all the work, write a few notes that no one will read, clock out at 5, and wish you stayed in orthopedic surgery residency.
A certain former ISI senior analyst in biotech is going to pop up at Cantor with a $42MM/5 yr guarantee soon...
That's insane. Must be a great people person.
He’s a creepy weirdo and most biotech investors dislike him.
lmao these are starting to sound like professional sports contracts. My man getting better contracts than NFL Top tier Running Backs! And don't get me started on the longevity :P.
For real though, what is it with biotech that makes SS analysts in that sector top out at multiples above the other sectors? There must be an industry specific P&L driver but I just don't know what it is
Lololol forreal though.
Lots of ECM activity is the main driver. Also it’s a more difficult sector to understand with more volatility leading to more interest from pod shop clients who pay more given their volume of trading.
mccaffrey wishes he had what it takes to be a SS biotech analyst
Client service sounds like hell, no time for deep work cause always traveling / publishing notes
You’re basically doing same buyside stuff as the buyside, but removing the fun aspects and replacing it with alotta BS. I get it if you’re like ‘the guy’ in a sector, the guru at an independent shop and if u like that type of work. Personally having to get notes out on a deadline and answer to client calls and requests, with my actual comp/rev-generation potentially somewhat arbitrary to my research quality sounds more stressful to me and the stress of putting risk on in a portfolio
Maybe it’s just me, but what is the likelihood of you becoming the “top” research analyst for your sector and consistently getting paid $2M+. I’d say you’re more likely to get Partner at a MF or big HF. You typically don’t get there until 45+ at least so that seems like a hell of a harder job / bet you’re making on your career than being an average buysider.
Yea it’s unlikely, but what I’m saying is average biotech analyst get paid $1-2 million vs the volatility of a career in a HF.
No the average biotech analyst does not get paid $1-2M. Also how many biotech seats do you think there are on Wall Street and how likely is it they you are in one of them? You probably have a better chance on the buy side being one of the thousand pod shop analysts / associates
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