Sourcing Fees for Associates

Hey guys, I don't spend much time here these days but I do have a question for "the market" of junior bankers. 2020 was a wonderful year for me as I directly sourced a sell-side that closed on 12/30 and generated a multi-million $ fee for my firm. It is quite unique to do this as an associate, and we therefore don't have a formal payout structure/program for junior bankers if they source transactions. 

Has anyone been in this situation? What should I expect? I think I deserve a healthy %, but would like to be armed with some "market" data (as much as random WSO responses can be counted/trusted...)

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

6 Comments
 
Most Helpful

I think you should expect nothing. Now, that doesn't mean that's fair, or that you'll actually get nothing. But like you said, there's not a formal payout structure for this type of situation, so it rests on the discretion of your partners and what they believe is "fair."

Depending on the size of the deal, if you didn't work at the firm and threw a deal their way, they might have a referral fee program that pays out a few hundred basis points on the transaction size. So something on the order of that might be arguable.

If they believe you have the ability for this to be a regular thing, then they'll probably be more inclined to keep you happy. If they think you just struck gold and it'll never happen again, then ... it depends how generous they feel.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great you sourced a deal as an associate and that kind of initiative deserves a payout. All I'm saying is that it depends entirely on the culture of the firm and the personalities of those making the decision - there isn't an industry norm here.

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