Bay Street VS Wall Street Investment Banker
It's been a while since the latest blog posts on Bay Street VS Wall Street have been up to date, so I decided to refresh the trend to get better information reflecting the current market condition.
I know Wall Street bankers will undoubtedly close more big deals, have better exit ops, and be in the second largest global financial hub, but I'm mostly interested in the salary and life quality aspects of both cities.
Say that we leave aside small firms, and we do not count in boutiques (because TO boutiques would distort our numbers); let's focus on bulge bracket firms. I'm talking Goldman Sachs, RBC Capital Markets, JP, BMO, etc.
Here are some questions on my mind:
Do Toronto bankers working in a BB take home as much as NYC bankers? Do you make as much at GS in TO as you would at GS in NYC? And would you make as much at RBC in TO than you would at GS in NYC?
**Are salaries similar in both cities only for junior bankers, diverging once you reach a more senior position? **
Because I'm guessing that if you can close more deals in NYC, you might receive a higher bonus at the end.
**If salaries do diverge reaching a senior position, how much of a discrepancy is expected? (I know performance is a critical aspect to consider, but let's try to generalize) **
**Can Directors and MD's in TO bring in 3M+ per year? **
Lastly, what would choose if you had to decide and why ?
Hope these questions can provide as much insight as possible for others seeking to discover the IB world in TO & NYC
Here's what I have in mind when I think IB salaries in TO (correct me if I'm wrong)
-
Analyst : Base: 85K + Bonus: 55K-115K
-
Associate: Base: 150K + Bonus: 115K-175K
-
VP: Base: 200k + Bonus: 200K-320K
-
Director: Overall: 500K to 1.5M
-
MD: Overall: 1M to 5M (3M + for top performers)
Toronto BB/EB (Big 5 isn't BB) offices do not close many deals as the execution tends to be done out of NYC. It's mostly just coverage. Calgary does the majority of large deals and execution work in Canada. As a result, hours tend to be better in Toronto, but pay is less in senior roles.
At the junior level, Toronto is in-line with NYC pay, but in Canadian dollars. At the MD level, you're going to make a lot more at a bank like BMO or Canaccord over GS/MS/JPM in Toronto.
I don't know where you're getting your info cause this is not true. The BB / EB satellites in Toronto all operate differently from each other. Some very small satellites, such as JPM Toronto probably outsource most of the work back to NYC offices, but this is not the case for larger Toronto satellites. Barclays, BAML and CS all run deals from start to finish in Toronto. As well, the Calgary team for the satellites only do Oil & Gas / Energy - this does not necessarily mean the Toronto satellites do jack all. There are other industries besides Oil & Gas.
At the Analyst level, I agree, the pay is mostly in-line with NYC. But certain BBs may pay 5-10k more in the Analyst years. You begin to see a more major divergence starting in the Associate level, and it continues to grow there. The pay difference is more substantial in US BB / EB offices, but generally the same standard holds true for salaries in the Toronto satellites. Seniors in Toronto satellites generally speaking do make more than the 5 Canadians (unless they pull no deals at all)
As to correct your salary estimates OP, good guesses but pretty optimistic. This is what it looks like for the 5 Canadians. Generally speaking, the Toronto BBs and EBs pay slightly more than the 5 CAD, but depending on the EB, you may get substantially more
1st Year Analyst: 80-85k (base) + 40-60k (bonus) + 5-7.5k (signing bonus) 1st Year Associate: 100-120k (base) + 100-140k (bonus)
Senior numbers are more obscure but in this ballpark: VP: all in roughly 400-650k Directors: all in roughly 650k-1 mil MDs: 1 mil to 2 mil (maybe 3 mil max if you're a complete rainmaker)
You have to realize that the US is a totally different and bigger market. The volume of capital markets activity in Canada is a fraction of the US. However, that comes with more competition, so the BBs and EBs compete on a different level compared to the 5 Canadians. If you compare the 5 Canadians to the US banks, the 5 are really just MM firms (open to debate about RBC but thats for another time). As well, there are tons of more buyside and corp dev opportunities in the US. If I could do things differently, I would work in NY at a BB or EB instead
Source: Going full-time at 1 of the 5 Canadians. Also have friends going full-time at BBs / EBs in Toronto and NYC