Bonus Guarantees for Lateral VP1

I'm progressing to the later stages of several processes with mid tier BBs, and wanted to see what sort of guarantees I can get on bonus. Have heard it'll be case by case and up to negotiation, so eager for any advice on how to navigate the negotiation, what levers can I pull, all that jazz. 

Current BofA, interviewing at other mid tier spots. Former coworkers have said anywhere from 80-100% of salary for next year, guaranteed mid bucket, two year guarantee. Given the wide range of outcomes, welcome all insights. Thanks in advance. 

18 Comments
 

never heard of any simultaneous title bump + bonus guarantee unless you're going very down market. You'll be taking a cut on base but BofA bonuses are shit so maybe you'll still come out on top 

 

Can you confirm you are getting a 2 year guarantee? That seems a lot at the VP level.

 

No, I haven't gotten it yet. It happened to an alum a few years ahead of me, it was a 2 year to go slightly downmarket, like a BofA to Wells. This happened in 2023, though, so wanted to get a temp check on where things stand today. 

 
Most Helpful

Lateraled as a VP1 from BofA coverage group to a GS/MS/JPM coverage group 2 years ago. Got guaranteed bonus equivalent to 100% of base salary for my first year (which was top bucket pay for the group that year). Know a guy from the class below me at BofA that did a similar switch last year as VP1 to one of those 3 “top BB” banks and got guaranteed same bonus structure for one year. Know another guy that went to a citi/wells type of BB as VP1 and didn’t get a firm # guaranteed but still got a decent bonus, like 80-90% of base. 
No way will citi or wells give you a 2-year guarantee as a VP. Have only seen it happen when going to a much smaller bank like Raymond James, cantor Fitzgerald, etc. 

 

VP in IB - Cov

Lateraled as a VP1 from BofA coverage group to a GS/MS/JPM coverage group 2 years ago. Got guaranteed bonus equivalent to 100% of base salary for my first year (which was top bucket pay for the group that year). Know a guy from the class below me at BofA that did a similar switch last year as VP1 to one of those 3 “top BB” banks and got guaranteed same bonus structure for one year. Know another guy that went to a citi/wells type of BB as VP1 and didn’t get a firm # guaranteed but still got a decent bonus, like 80-90% of base. 
No way will citi or wells give you a 2-year guarantee as a VP. Have only seen it happen when going to a much smaller bank like Raymond James, cantor Fitzgerald, etc. 

when you say guaranteed - they put that on paper in the offer letter?

Have seen other threads in the past where some firms fight about putting it in writing

 

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