Dear S&T Monkeys,
How much does the total comp for Traders and Sales differ in London? And what do you know about base salaries bump? Will they reach the IB level, or have they already done so in any bank?
Looking for info to make decision for my future career in the industry!
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Base varies by firm but many shops have raised it alongside IBD including MS, citi and goldman. Total comp is obviously lower than IB in both areas (generally speaking) but there is less of a bucketing in terms of bonus allocation and you can, as a trader, get promoted earlier than in IBD. As for traders v salespeople, this will vary by firm AND desk. A lot of people don't realise how (excluding base salary) comp and culture vary between desks, how much you make is entirely dependent on the year/market conditions, your product's volatility/how liquid it is and how much prop trading is being retained on the desk. As a result, it can vary.
At junior levels, the difference between S and T isn't really significant and it can vary between individuals: salesperson x can make more than trader y but less than trader z. At senior levels traders get a % of their desk PnL which can be significant based on the factors I mentioned earlier. Salespeople are literally winning business at senior levels and so a lot of their comp is dependent on just how well they can write said business and retain it. If the desk's book is small, the entire team's pie will be small. Salespeople bringing in business will get them noticed quickly and can result in promotions and/or impact their bonuses. Tbh as a prospect none of this is that important, you will be recruiting for S&T, not a specific one so I'd wait till your internship to decide. I wouldn't use comp as a factor variable here, its too variable (unless at analyst levels) and you will naturally be more aligned with one role over the other. You personally might be able to make more in S than you would in T because of xyz.
What are some desks that still retains some prop trade and makes good pnl?
also interested
Tank you for the insights. In terms of culture and actual work, what are the best desks? Obviously it will vary on personal preferences, but I wonder if there is a common view on some of them and their main characteristics
Eh I'm not too sure, I studied science so had a natural affinity for energy (oil and gas) as well as commodities. Its honestly impossible to say, I'm at GS and the commod desk here might be radically different to the one at Citi in terms of culture. You cannot empirically say anything about culture until you do your rotations and get a feel of the desks hierarchy (or lack thereof) and absorb it by osmosis. Generally speaking, its important to go in with a clear head and little bias, focus on understanding the different desks, recruit and then pick after rotations. You can obviously read around and be interested in certain products though and how they're handled: FICC is a decent place to start.
Also in terms of work it depends what you like, there are some really quanty and algo heavy desks like exotics and way less liquid ones that require a strong grasp of macroeconomic trends such as the ones in FICC, especially rates.
I’m a very simple person… some numbers to share ?
lmao literally
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