Work at an Rx boutique as an analyst. I had three years prior experience working in a front office role at a BB before joining this boutique. Base pay for analysts is $75k/year here, which especially sucks with all the pay raises across banks over the past few months, but whatever. When I joined I was told typical analyst bonuses were in the 1-2x range of base. Just got notified my bonus is $15k. Have been working non-stop over the past year averaging 80-90hrs per week. Needless to say it was incredibly disheartening to hear that number. My goal in joining this group was to eventually recruit for a buyside seat, either in special situations or distressed credit, but obviously now I want to leave ASAP.
So I ask you guys, what do you think the most optimal path forward for me is?
- Try and lateral to another Rx group and then recruit from there
- Start busyide recruiting now
- stay at my current shop for another year to get more experience and then recruit (definitely do not want to do this)
Any advice would be really appreciated. I'm sort of at a loss right now. I am completely jaded and burned out at this point I do not even want to think about working another day here.
Wtf that should be illegal shame on this bank
Out the bank.
I will. I'm going to do a more comprehensive write up airing my grievances.
I wouldn't do it- it would become extremely easy for anyone to find out who you are, and it could possibly hurt you in the long run.
what do you think they would do? Cut his bonus lol?
Get a job somewhere else first. Don't destroy your career.
I'm honestly surprised at some of the comments and advice I've read on this post. But nonetheless…
1) Email your MD and tell him/her you're interested in having a conversation about your compensation and ask when they have availability. However, DO NOT send this email without doing the following, because there's a chance they see your email and call you immediately - you need to be prepared
2) Prepare yourself properly. Do your homework on what the market bonus is for your position and be able to support it with several examples. KNOW what your number should be. If he/she asks "well what do you think you should have gotten", your answer needs to be "based off of my rating and the feedback I've gotten, the market bonus for my position is ~[ ]%"…don't hesitate with this response.
3) Step up. Have this conversation with a backbone. Speak professionally and firmly, but be sure not to come across as some entitled prick. From my experience, any half decent MD will respect this approach.
4) If they don't budge or if they give you some BS response, then move on immediately. Fire off that resume and gtfo, but do not burn any bridges. Hopefully, based on the conversation you'll have, they will realize that they'll lose you if they don't fix the issue; by doing this you'll put them in a corner and it sounds like you're someone they do not want to lose.
Good luck
Forgot something else…
If they do pay up, still leave and gtfo. Working for a group like that sounds horrendous.
This story makes less than zero sense. Why is no one asking why this guy took a 75k base analyst role at a boutique after 3 years of front office experience at a BB? The fact pattern here makes 0 sense.
I think that before you do anything else - and I mean anything else - you need to look yourself in the mirror and have an honest conversation with yourself about your performance and your attitude. Anyone who has worked in this world for a few years knows what a low bonus means - they are encouraging you to leave.
The advice to talk to your MD and be prepared with facts and numbers is good advice, it's the mature, professional thing to do. But you need to be prepared for that to go tits up on you. What if they tell you the bonus is intentional? What if they invite you to resign that day? What if they tell you its intentional and you still stay - what does that do for your footing in the company going forward? What if you voice your displeasure and it takes you a while to find a job? Every day that ticks by weakens your position in the company (and justifies the 15k). These are all the conversations you need to have with yourself prior to even thinking about approaching your MD. Some of these answers may dissuade you from having the conversation to begin with, and that's OK. It's much better than being asked to leave in a much more explicit manner.
You have very few options for success here. They're not going to pop you from 15k to 75k (which would still be on the low end of your expectations, right?). So what does success look like for you here? I really can't think of many, which makes a quiet exit that much more attractive. You still need to have that honest conversation with yourself so that you don't end up making the same mistakes at your next firm.
Good luck!