Comments (81)

  • Associate 1 in IB - Cov
2mo 

Swap places with the Citi guys who are also about to get the pipe today 

  • 1
  • Incoming Analyst in IB - Cov
2mo 

Not trying to hijack the thread but curious about two things: is this for Aso+? And when are the numbers expected to be communicated? Thanks!

  • Analyst 3+ in IB - Cov
2mo 

What do you mean same as last year, are you saying bonuses flat YoY?

  • Associate 2 in IB - Cov
2mo 

Associate 2 in IB - Cov

Citi comp day was very good. Same as last year.

For everyone that made fun of Citi on this forum the past couple years, we still paid top of street BB wise.

What was your comp?

  • Analyst 1 in IB - Cov
2mo 

An0 stub much lower than last years analyst class, at least in my group

2mo 
Bumblebtuna_analyst, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Heard S&T got fuckin WRECKED, buncha guys with zeroes is the whisper

  • 1
2mo 
44_Patel, what's your opinion? Comment below:

MS numbers are an absolute trainwreck.

MS will lose lots of their staff to this and rightly so.

The mood music is dreadful.

  • 1
2mo 
wwert134, what's your opinion? Comment below:
44_Patel

MS numbers are an absolute trainwreck.

MS will lose lots of their staff to this and rightly so.

The mood music is dreadful.

What were you expecting, deal flow down by 50 percent. No one is leaving 

  • 1
  • Associate 2 in IB - Cov
2mo 

wwert134

44_Patel

MS numbers are an absolute trainwreck.

MS will lose lots of their staff to this and rightly so.

The mood music is dreadful.

What were you expecting, deal flow down by 50 percent. No one is leaving 

I don't get the "deal flow is down" argument. Junior bankers don't get comp'd based on deal flow like senior bankers do. Hence why Junior banker comp is supposed to be less variable YoY. If business is down, this should be a MD/D problem. Am I missing something?

  • 2
Funniest
2mo 
reformed, what's your opinion? Comment below:

That's weird. For some reason, I didn't hear anyone making the same argument last year or the year before when dealflow was up. I wonder why that is?

Array
  • 18
  • 2
  • Assistant in IB - Gen
2mo 

Isn't MS the leanest headcount of the BBs (<100 An1)? How do they comp so low when their annual fees per head are boutique tier?

  • Associate 1 in IB-M&A
2mo 

Yup, I don't know how.

2mo 
Lockwood, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Yup, I don't know how.

They pay Seniors very well to keep top performers. That's where the majority goes.

Rest is pocketed by the bank. 

MS has always been a low payer vs the other US bulge brackets.

Tech & Media M&A - London
  • Associate 3 in IB - ECM
2mo 

Isn't MS the leanest headcount of the BBs (<100 An1)? How do they comp so low when their annual fees per head are boutique tier?

Once you IPO, the purpose of your business is to make your shareholders rich, not your employees. If Morgan Stanley has a record year T Rowe Price, Vanguard, etc. want a record dividend. They aren't going to just let you crank OpEx up by paying your employees above market, at the expense of Operating CF that could be paying dividends or reinvesting in revenue opportunities.  

That's why EBs are so money. I mean real EBs; Ducera, Qatalyst, FT Partners all pay the absolute Christ out of their employees in good years. And nobody can tell them not to: the employees own the business. 

Lazard, Moelis & Evercore aren't even really "boutiques" to me anymore. At this point they're all public companies worth a few billion that exist as a cash generation machine to pay dividends to shareholders. They're still able to pay employees slightly above market, but can no longer give the type of windfalls that guys at Qatalyst/Ducera can get during a blockbuster year. 

  • 1
  • Intern in IB-M&A
2mo 

FT Partners officially an EB

  • Associate 2 in IB - Gen
2mo 

What's bad? 50% of base??? 

  • Associate 2 in IB - Cov
2mo 

I heard $50k

2mo 
wwert134, what's your opinion? Comment below:
bulge bracket monkey

Wide range across the board, 150k for me

Year?

  • Analyst 2 in IB - Gen
2mo 

wwert134

Associate 4:

base 225, went to 275 for vp.

bonus 185

That seems pretty decent honestly considering the comments above. Is this in line with your expectations? 

2mo 
wwert134, what's your opinion? Comment below:

wwert134

Associate 4:

base 225, went to 275 for vp.

bonus 185

That seems pretty decent honestly considering the comments above. Is this in line with your expectations? 

Was expecting lower.

2mo 
1s0l2, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Any other numbers?

2mo 
brickcage, what's your opinion? Comment below:

105k AS0 / stubbed like 45k

2mo 
pihafe1246, what's your opinion? Comment below:

need more datapoints, please add.

2mo 
MichaelCorleone1, what's your opinion? Comment below:

And for M&A or LevFin? Horrible. You guys had decent revenue at the quarter mark, mgmt incompetence a bit of a joke. Sorry they screwed you like this

  • 1
2mo 
wso_50, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Got a zero and gave them 2 weeks in the same meeting

  • 1
  • Analyst 1 in IB - Cov
2mo 

Brutal

  • Analyst 2 in IB - Gen
2mo 

Did they know you were leaving already? Cant understand how it would zero otherwise. 

  • VP in IB - Cov
2mo 

No idea on this guys situation but my group gave out a few zeros pre-COVID and hear we are getting back to that, its not usually a big suprise who gets it. From a firm perspective, its a good way to get people to leave without the PR headache of formally firing people. You can technically stay but most won't / they'll make it inhospitable for you, 0 bonus, bad staffings, hell, even a bad seat on the floor.

2mo 
wso_50, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Did they know you were leaving already? Cant understand how it would zero otherwise. 

Literally wasn't even on my radar

Expectations were not high, was prepared to suck it up to a point. Not this point though

2mo 
afdaW, what's your opinion? Comment below:

zero here too. zero base increase as well. yikes

2mo 
curious_underwriter, what's your opinion? Comment below:

The bonuses were a train-wreck. The argument of this being a bad year is not really fair. Last year even though was a record year, bonuses were pretty normal at junior levels and MDs / EDs pocketed large chunks. The cuts however this year have been loaded onto Analysts / Associates too ! 

  • 1
  • VP in IB - Cov
2mo 
curious_underwriter

The bonuses were a train-wreck. The argument of this being a bad year is not really fair. Last year even though was a record year, bonuses were pretty normal at junior levels and MDs / EDs pocketed large chunks. The cuts however this year have been loaded onto Analysts / Associates too ! 

MD and EDs hold the relationships. When market comes back, you can always hire A&As quickly / grind your existing juniors, but hiring people with relationships has a very long lead time in comparison. Senior comp is also more variable so you can turn it down more on a percentage basis. It's fucked up but it makes sense to pursue this strategy.

  • Analyst 1 in IB-M&A
2mo 

100% agree with this. Not paying your MDs is exactly how EVR / CVP will poach your rainmakers in downturns. Tough for an MD to turn down 30% guaranteed rev share at EVR / CVP if they get no bonuses at MS

  • Incoming Analyst in IB - CB
2mo 

Ok Mr. MD.

  • 4
  • 1
2mo 
wso_50, what's your opinion? Comment below:

I'd much much rather have been laid off in November than waste 2.5 more months just to get fucked anyway

2mo 
techiebanker, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Surprised to see many zero bonuses. Not a good move by MS

  • Analyst 2 in IB - Gen
2mo 

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2mo 
techiebanker, what's your opinion? Comment below:

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  • Analyst 2 in IB - Gen
2mo 

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