Do associates get bonuses mainly in stock?

I know the high-ranking executives at i-banks get most of their bonus through stock. There was an article this week in the NY Observer where they interviewed an anonymous 29-year old associate who works in structured products. They said his bonus back in like early 2008 was $675K, most of it in stock. I had previously thought analysts and associates get cash bonuses.

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pre crisis, once you earned above a certain level in bonus (250/300k, i forget which at my former employer) you received a portion of that excess in stock that vested in thirds. analysts rarely earn that much money in bonus to have this pay structure apply, associates sometimes do.

given the crisis and all the focus on bonuses i would not be surprised if this threshold and the percentages have changed however. i know this may be a bit of a stretch (lol) but any real live current associates on WSO care to update us? beuller?

 

Do associates really make that much!?

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