Compensation--FX Traders versus FX Sales?

I interned for FX sales (albeit at a small place) last summer. Bonus there was about 20k for top tier a year in addition to 40k base (this was in Texas, maybe different in NY). Usually bonus was about 11k or so.

FX traders at bulge bracket banks at the analyst and associate level usually get paid as much as people in other desks do.

In theory, who would make more money--A salesperson/trader in commodities, equities, or FX--if they were equally adept, and over a normalized period of time to correct for outlier years?

Also, does anybody see sell-side FX melting away in the foreseeable future? I have heard a lot of people predict equities to have a diminishing role in the coming years.

Thanks again, and Happy New Year.

Actually, after the current crisis, a lot of firms are starting to focus more on the fundamental business areas like sell-side FX as they are moving away from complex structured products. It's very hard to tell who would make the most money, because it's not easy to ignore outlier years. It all depends on which product sees the most volume and volatility. Commodities never used to see this much volume but recently it's been amazing to trade commodities. I would strongly suggest taking something based on the amount of interest you have in that field because if you go for the money, you're going to get screwed. Every product will have an amazing run for about 3-4 years after which the fad fades away.

For BB FX desks, analysts make 60k salary + 20-60k bonus depending on how well they do relative to the rest of the analyst class and how good the FX desk is at that particular bank. Associates have a salary around 100k and bonuses which range from 60k-200k, depending on the revenue they generate for the bank. This year, most FX desks are having record years and won't see their bonuses drop that much at all.

In general, which desks have consistently been the most profitable throughout the years? are there any desks which are not affected by crises such as the current one? which desks have the best future prospects?

you need to understand that a payout in sales in most cases is connected to the sales credit/markup you can get on a trade. simply, what you can charge over what the desk price is. the more exotic the trade the more you can charge regardless of the product category. traders get paid on how much risk they carry. the more exotic/less liquid/harder to hedge product the bigger payout they may expect.

quag_mire to answer your questions....none/no/one that can make money or stay flat in shitty times and makes ton of dough good times.

In any case, what percentage of fx salespeople or fx traders at BBs pull down 7 figures by VP level?

do many ppl pull down 7 figs by VP level? i thought that except in a few rare cases, that was only MD level payout

I remember reading that last year a few VPs on the trading floor at GS were pulling 400-700K bonuses. I think the 7 figure payouts are for the MD and above level.

At GS?

I know that GS isn't even that big of a player in the FX market. Intuitively, it would be easier to make more money at a firm like DB, which controls 22% market share, versus a place like JPM that controls around 4. Does this hold true?

Also, if VP traders were making 4-700 in bonus, what were the salesmen making?

Bump

the ceiling is higher in trading- you're taking the risk. but there are 7figure salesmen

I felt dumber for seeing some of the numbers in this thread, but then I checked the time stamps on the posts. These numbers don't exist any more friends.