Disclosing current salary / bonus

If they insist on u sharing data first, i have heard of people putting a premium on their current compensation (Total compensation). That’s up to you though. Hopefully they give a range first - isn’t it illegal in some states to ask people for their comp?

Crappy recruiter. If they keep pressing, tell them what you’re looking for / what you’d be happy with based on similar comps and ask if this opportunity is in line with market. If they come back and say that’s too high, then you have your answer.

If you are being paid market/above market, is there any downside to this, as its pretty clear now that banking comp in the junior ranks beats out private equity comp. 

I wouldn’t lie. Depending how they do a security check (if they use Work Number), it shows your comp from past jobs. Now if you have another job offer, you can inflate that cause they can’t check it

If you're in NYC, Cali, or a bunch of other states they're not allowed to ask that, and I would straight up say the new role is different enough that you don't feel it's a useful data point

Even outside of states banning it, this is kind of shady of a recruiter to keep insisting without giving a range. If you really like the company you could provide a range of your expected comp but definitely inflate it a bit. Unless your current salary is above market, or totally standardized like a BB IB salary, not helpful for you to disclose.