2018 /2019 Bonus Discussion
That time of year again. Banks have finished their fiscal year and should be close to payout time (BMO / RBC / others?)
Thought might be good to start a thread to see where comp is shaking out. I realize WSO has a database, but in an effort to keep things blinded and semi-real time lets post here. Please fill out the WSO comp survey as well, though!
Would be helpful if we kept a similar format:
Title: (As / VP / D / MD and year being paid on)
Rank: (Top / Mid / Bottom)
Bank type: (BB / EB / MM)
$:
% Cash:
Notes:
Interested
Title: As2 Rank: Mid? Bank type: Canadian (NYC office) Bonus: $150 % Cash: 90% Base: $175 (moving to $200)
Was this on par with what your shop paid last year for 2nd year associate?
Yes
Is 150 considered par among Big 5 for 2ndyr AN2?
Just because he’s at a Canadian bank doesn’t mean he’s at a Canadian office.
CIBC and TD apparently don’t pay like RBC in the US.
BMO might be hurting a bit this year, but not sure.
No clue on scotia.
Do you only want to make this for IB and FO or can BO also participate?
Not sure why you got MS thrown at you but I would be curious on BO bonuses.
Yeah, I have no idea why the MS either??? People on this site can be weird sometimes.
Regardless, I'll post my BO info. Just got word that my discussion will take place the first full week of January so I might know more at that time.
BO bonus would be like $15
Would love to hear your rationale for this
This idiocy has to stop. We are not in 2003.
If you're in a risk function, a fed-facing role, or a programming role, you can make a terrific living while working humane hours and have far more job security than a banker or trader.
I know people who work in CCAR as analysts that pull in $150k, they usually work a lot during Q1 but otherwise it seems like 50-55 hour weeks are the norm.
This is ridiculous.
So far there are 10 comments and one data point. Would be nice to get more data and fewer questions about the data (questions which ultimately lead to unproductive arguments that have nothing to do with the content of the thread).
Isn’t it a little disingenuous to tell people to only post if they post numbers while not posting numbers yourself?
These threads have gotten significantly worse as time has gone by. I think people are less confident in how anonymous they really are online.
You must be fun at parties
Title: Director
Rank: No official ranking
Bank: BB
Bonus: $400k
% Cash: 75%
Thanks - what year are you in as a director?
Would be useful if these posts included all-in comp. E.g., what’s a director salary + bonus?
Agreed
Data point from last year for reference.
Title: As2 Rank: Top Bank type: MM Bonus: $205k % Cash: 100% Salary: $175k
In line with top As2 here.
Thanks - let us know when you get your As3 #.
Want to make sure I'm reading this correctly - you got $380k all in as a second year associate? Mind providing the region (NYC, SF, Midwest, etc.)?
If you really got $380k all in and all cash - congrats, that is more than most PE senior associates will be paid.
Northeast, non-NYC, at a "top" MM. Our group had a record year.
It's quite common actually nowadays to get 350+ 2nd year associate
Rank: Top Bonus: Trash Me: Pissed
funny, but been there
I'm responsible for managing the lateral hire process in my group and have had a number of discussions recently with headhunters. In general, according to these headhunters, comp is up year over year and people are generally happy. Makes recruiting a pain
That's a bit surprising, seems like the media is reporting it is flat to down.
Sorry - to clarify. The HHs told me Analyst - VP is up, D/MD is down ... effectively reducing senior comp to make juniors happier. I suspect in aggregate you may be right
Title: AN2 Rank: Mid / Top Bank type: BB Bonus: $100k % Cash: 100% Salary: $95k
Wow - that's pretty high. Congratulations!
Congrats. Is 95k base typical for Analyst 2? I'm going into a lower BB as a first year next summer and was wondering what to expect in terms of bonus. My offer letter lists 85/10k signing
Yes
Same here. Don't worry - this is standard
Data point from 2017
Title: As 1 Rank: Mid Bank type: BB $: 75K % Cash: 90% Notes: $150K base, moving to $175K; pissed, moved to buy-side
your bonus was 75k? at a BB? Which group?
M&A. Yes, as a third year analyst in another group (same bank), I got 96K. you can imagine how good I felt...
As a reference, Mid+ was 100K
understand most people don't have numbers, but in classic WSO fashion, a few data points and mostly chatter (don't get mine til mid-Jan)
do you see the irony in your post then?
.
Killer bonus, congrats on a good year man
.
Type: EB Team: Generalist Seniority: An2 Rank: Tier 1 Base: $90k Bonus: $140K Cash: 100%
Do you know if base's are rising at your boutique? I read elsewhere that analyst bases at some EBs were going up to 95 for An1 on another thread
Title: VP Rank: No official ranking Bank: Boutique Bonus: $420k % Cash: 100%
Congrats, that is a solid bonus for a VP. Are you on the more senior end of the VP title for experience?
Would be considered a VP2. Base a little less than street but happy to make that trade off for 100% cash bonus
is that an all-in comp?
All-in $630. NYC. Industry boutique and Lean deal team.
Congrats. That is huge. Hope your health and spirit is in good shape as well because that's something to be extremely proud of!
Bonus numbers coming out this week, looking forward to seeing how the numbers look for this year.
https://news.efinancialcareers.com/hk-en/3000055/us-banks-bonus-announc…
In spite of all the MS I got for asking if it was cool to post BO, I'm still going to share my numbers. In fact, I turned it into an AMA for BO work: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/ama-mid-career-professional-to-t…
TLDR: Top bucket in BO at BB, 4% rise in base, 10% bonus on $115K. Sure, you guys dwarf me but it's an office I like, MD actually knows my name, insane amount of time off that I actually get to use and never have to work more than 40 hours/week.
how many years in?
how much does someone make coming into BB BO with 4-5 years in consulting experience?
There's no easy answer to that. That will all depend on the experience you bring to the table and the BO function you are in. The range is simply too broad to properly answer your question
Ignore the MS bud, Im part of the ones who's actually curious and interested in how much you make in BO. I have to say a $115k for a 40h work week and free of stress, you're most likely earning more on a post tax and hourly basis than a fair bit on this forum :)
Thanks for the support. One more thing I forgot to add is that I fudged my numbers just a little bit to throw off any co-workers that may be on WSO. But the relative values remain the same and give a fair representation of BO
I suppose you’re right on the hourly take and all that. I get the same benefits as IB and I’m free to use mine and my bosses never give me crap when they have to approve the time off. I also wrote a post on how slow BO is in December - this past December was like a very, very long Christmas party every day in the office :-) I realize that most FO cannot say that.
Take this shit to another thread...
Hey, son, look above. you see that blue underlined text? That’s called a “link” - it IS in another thread.
Try and keep up, kiddo.
I would be interested to see a discussion page on lates come for BO/MO - would be interesting to see as it’s harder to compare as there are less data points. Sure there are a lot of us on this forum too.
Title: AS2
Rank: Mid
Bank: BB
Base: $175k Bonus: $150k
% Cash: 100%
What were the bonuses for the Top Buckets at your BB?
175 I think, but not 100% sure
Title: ED
Rank: Top
Bank: BB
Base: $350k Bonus: $1.73m
% Cash: 25%
^That's why I stay at a sweatshop
Aren't you at a startup? or is that your side business?
pretty sure it's BS
Title: VP Function: BO Bonus:12k Base: flat Ranking: high Me: understandably pissed
BO function? That makes bonuses fluctuate.
Yeah, I'm in Tech. Cloud focused.
Some reference points from a top 3 BB for this year:
Title: Asc 2 Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB Group: Industry Coverage Location: NY Base: 175 Bonus: 105% Cash %: 80% Note: Top ranked got 125% bonus
Title: Asc 3 Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB Group: Industry Coverage Location: NY Base: 200 Bonus: 105% Cash %: 80% Note: Top ranked got 125% bonus
Title: Asc 1 Rank: 3/5 Bank: BB Group: Capital Markets (i.e. ECM, DCM, LevFin) Location: LDN Base: 90 GBP Bonus: 80% Cash %: Unknown
Title: Asc 2 Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB Group: M&A Location: Continental Europe Base: 150 EUR Bonus: 100 EUR
Now this is helpful, thank you Interestingly US comp is significantly higher vs Europe I assume all the data points reflect the same BB?
Yes, same. BB. Europe is a bit f* up recently because of USD strength vs. GBP. The base is traditionally fixed GBP and then they give you a bonus which should lead to a total comp which is 'aligned' with US is USD. Reality is that in European BB (excluding maybe few names) it is extremely rare to have bonus >100% of your base at analyst / associate (with 100% bonus being a cap). The result is that Base in GBP + 100% bonus is still USD peer because of fx.
As an example: as associate 2 you can make in NY 175 base + 175 bonus = 350; in Europe you would make 105 + 105 = 210 GBP and at current FX that is 280 USD. In 2014 with FX at 1.6, the GBP comp was aligned to US.
Regarding the last two (London & Continental Europe): Is 150k EUR really common at a top 3 BB, Asc 2 level? And the bonus seems pretty high also. I believe in Continental Europe starting with EUR 40-50k (Ass1 level) is normal. In London, Analysts also start with some 40-50k I believe... Then again, I'm not an expert on this matter.
Associate and Analyst aren't the same thing
An 1 BB make €65-75k (differs from bank to bank) base in continental europe £55k in London at EB and 50k at BB. Correct ASS 3 €150k base in continental europe
For the past few years what has jr level bonuses been for EBs as a percent of base? Generally an analyst associate can expect 80-110% (assuming middle to top bucket)?
Just looking for a rule of thumb to think about
Thanks
Title: Asc 3 Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB Group: M&A Location: HK Base: USD$240 Bonus: USD$155
What my bank does is try to normalize comp post taxes (which is kinda shitty but make sense I guess and this is atleast what HR has told me...) my HK total income taxes are 12% vs. plus 40% in the U.S.
Before people jump over this 240 USD base, HK cost of housing is higher than NY.
Title: Assoc 1 Rank: unk (they don’t tell us, my guess is middle of the pack Bank type:BB $95k bonus $150k base (increased to $200k this year) % Cash:100% Notes: My bank is known to pay below the street, they claim that our pay is lower beta but not sure how true that is.
Interesting that your base went from $150 to $200 without stopping at $175 first
Yep recent shift for associates 2, base is now 200. Nice bump.
This is for first year post-MBA, not A2A right?
Title: D1 Rank: Top (or so I was told) Bank type: Canadian (NYC office) Base: $275k
Bonus: $395k % Cash: 75%
Total comp: $670k Note: Dissatisfied with comp level; feels below Street for Director-level
Interesting. Out of curiosity what have you heard is Street for a D1?
Also has your role as D1 been purely execution focused, similar to a vp?
D1 responsibilities are a combination of (i) early stages of building own calling effort, (ii) supporting senior MDs calling effort and (iii) execution.
D1s are not expected to be revenue generating, so compensation is not tied to P&L. However, this slowly evolves in the D2 and D3 years.
Title: AS3 (2018) Rank: Top Bank: MM Base: $175k Bonus: $265k % Cash: 100% Notes: Promoted
Congrats on the promotion!
Did they notify you along with the bonus that you would be promoted or was this during the annual review?
Thank you very much.
The annual conversation includes promotion (if applicable), review and compensation - one chat.
nyc?
Negative
100% cash is nice! How do you feel about total comp this year?
It is, indeed! Honestly, I felt incredibly appreciative and was very pleased with the number.
We had a tremendous year as a bank and team, and it required a significant amount of personal sacrifice. Thankfully the bank recognized that and stepped up meaningfully.
Damn, you guys in the US. You seem to be getting insane bonuses. I actually question my ranking now having seen this thread. My salary converted to USD for comparison:
Title: AS1 (2017) Rank: 4/5 Bank: BB (Continental Europe) Base: $130 Bonus: $117 % Cash: 80%
Title: VP1 - S&T Rank: Top Bank type: EB/MM $: 200k % Cash: 100% Notes: Base $225k, Region WC
Move to PM or Prop soon?
what desk?
Title: An1 Rank: Top Bank type: EB $: 95k (ex. signing) % Cash: 100% Notes: $95k base; pay was for full 1st year as of summer 2018
.
bump - any other news? my group does reviews in the next 1-2 weeks.
Any news on UBS numbers? I heard they are out.
All these numbers look super high to me. Was told I’m paid in line with other analysts that got promoted to Associate.
Title: A3 Rank: No official rank Bank type: BB Bonus: $50k % Cash: 90% Base: $95k (moving to $125k)
This looks low for a BB, are you in a specific region? Sorry to say but ~50% payout is below street for this year..
Top BB in US and both team/group performed very well. S&T though, so that might be the difference. I only work 75 hours/week on average. Was told there’s nothing I could’ve done differently to get paid more, and that I’m welcome to shop around for better offers if I think someone else will pay more.
Title: D Rank: Top Bank type: MM Bonus: $775k % Cash: 100% Notes: Base $250k
What year Director? Product or coverage group? How much do you think bonus # attributable to personal revenue generation vs. group performance vs. total firm performance?
D1 Coverage Likely attributable to all three drivers you mentioned. Both firm and group had record years. Personal revenue generation is starting but in early days. PM if you want to discuss more.
Title : VP1, S&T Firm : US BB in London Total : 450k$ Bonus : ~300k$ Cash : 80%
Title: VP1 - M&A Rank: N/A Bank type: BB % Cash: 80% Base $225 Bonus $305k
Interested in hearing from other VPs in banking...
Title: Analyst Y1 Bank type: Big 5 Canadian Base: $90,000 Bonus: $60,000 % Cash: 100%
Would you mind saying if you work in a big 5 canadian bank in Canada or in the US?
A couple datapoints from friends (all NY, all industry coverage groups)
Title: Associate 1 Rank: Mid/Top Bank type: EB $: 200 % Cash: 80% Base: 150 -> 175
Title: Associate 2 Rank: Unknown Bank type: Mid-Tier BB $: 100 % Cash: 100% Base: 175 -> 200
Title: Associate 3 Rank: Top Bank type: Low-Tier BB $: 250 % Cash: Unknown Base: 200 -> VP1 (not sure)
Title: VP1 Rank: Mid Bank type: EB (different than above) $: 300 % Cash: 75% Base: 250 (Flat)
Title: Associate 1 Rank: Mid/Top Bank type: BB $: 130 % Cash: 100% Base: 150 -> 175
All cash!!!!
Title: Associate 2 (in 2018) Rank: Mid/Top Bank type: BB $: 185 % Cash: 100% Base: 175->200
Title: ASO2 Rank: Top Bank: BB product group $215 All cash $175 -> $200
I'm confused when people say VP1 - was that your title for the whole year or just got promoted?
I got promoted to VP on 2/1/19
Rank: no idea
Bank: MM M&A
New base: $225K as of 2/1/19
Bonus: $250K - for 2018 I assume
All cash, plus we get profit sharing based on seniorty, ~$20K this year and I joined 3 yrs ago
Interested to know how that compares with other MM banks. Based in Midwest. Thanks.
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