Compensation/bonus progression at mid tier trading firms for experienced traders

I was wondering if anyone had any data/insight onto what pay at "mid tier" (non top tier) trading firms like IMC, DRW, and SIG might look like 3-5 years in. Their new grad offers start at 300-350k now (with 250-300 of that recurring) but I don't have any data on what experienced pay might look like. I realize that at that level performance matters the most but I don't know if performance is the difference between making 400k and 600k, or if it's the difference between 400k and 1.2 million.

Thanks!

15 Comments
 

There's actually a lot of MM firms similar in business model to the ones you mentioned, but are smaller. Like, more than 30. I would consider SIG and DRW and IMC S tier and places like Jane St and Five Rings S+ tier. Source: I am an intern at one of these firms mentioned.

 

I don't have experience with those exact firms and trading comp is pretty opaque and variable but industry wide performance and comp is fairly dependent on market conditions/volatility. Pnl is way up in the past two years at most trading firms and comp has gone the same direction. Not every firm/desk is doing that well and some firm's may be stingier with comp as pnl increased (e.g. Virtu) but there are also many firms expanding aggressively and giving out very generous offers to experienced hires (similar reasons as why fresh grad pay is skyrocketing). Flow Traders is probably an extreme example but 66 employees got 1+ million euros in 2020 while none got that much in 2019. Overall considering uncertainty in personal and firm/desk performance at some mid tier firms I wouldn't be surprised if the potential range in 5 years could be like 200k to more than 1 million.

 

Voluptatum animi commodi sapiente natus adipisci laborum est. Nam voluptatem delectus blanditiis rem et qui. Occaecati et commodi sit doloremque dolores. Earum ut officia et a recusandae ducimus eos impedit. Ut quam ducimus vel natus iure. Commodi repudiandae voluptas sunt iste accusantium animi quae.

Tempore sed quae aut quia soluta. Sit distinctio corrupti nam ipsa. Reiciendis officia quia hic quia et.

Ut occaecati quos et iure rerum quos nam ut. Consequuntur quis in ea deleniti perferendis.

Autem ullam odio iusto vel praesentium. Perferendis incidunt ut eos assumenda repellendus magni. Molestiae voluptatibus deserunt tempore et qui distinctio architecto.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”