Middle Office Close to 100% Bonus?

One of my buddies is a quant(first year, base is at around 150k) working in the middle office (model validation/ risk management) and they just had a meeting and his boss told him that their year end bonus is targeted at 96% ?! Can quants in other BBs confirm this?(and this dude works less than 40 hours a week!) I'm a bit shocked. 

10 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Why are you considering model validation/risk management a MO role? I think it’s actually part of the core business of quantitative finance and the people working in that division are as qualified/have similar backgrounds to the other quants. From my understanding, as people get more senior in quantitative development they tend to move toward model validation a lot more since it requires more experience in model development. The YouTuber Dimitri Bianco has a lot of videos on the subject and is an example of that since he’s quite senior now and works in model validation. The most senior quants I met (~5) started in model development and moved to model validation too.

It’s not the same as risk management roles in other fields of finance. Someone working in model validation/risk management will be considered a real quant the same way someone working FO in IBD will be considered a banker. At least, that’s how I understood it from Dimitri’s videos on quant finance and talking with a few quants, I am in no way an expert.

 

I have actually talked to model val/risk quants at my bank(C/JP/MS) and it seems that everyone who is VP or below there is dying to move into FO to be a desk quant, also at my banks' MO quants will get bonus more like 60% max. My friend who's got 96% bonus works in WF, according to him, WF hires quants more selectively(almost everyone is a Phd), the pay gap between MO and FO is minuscule.

 

Sint et laboriosam facilis eveniet harum aut et. At omnis vel esse voluptatibus modi sit. Quia omnis veritatis incidunt magnam tenetur.

Mollitia dicta voluptatibus tempore eos quia soluta. Ex eos alias et et est delectus. A impedit libero quae est voluptatem aut nisi. Vitae ad sit et unde. Commodi expedita reiciendis maiores molestiae. Et modi voluptas et consequatur nostrum.

Dolorem quia est sit est voluptatem porro dicta eos. Est quis inventore eos nihil. Debitis consequatur minima vel dignissimos quis. Ut est consequatur ea sit doloremque.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”