|
||||||
|
||||||
TOP STORIESAnalyst bonuses to be nearly halved10 June 2008COMMENTS2nd year bonus only 140%? That is complete rubbish. The majority of front office grads at end of 2nd yr analyst get a low 6-FIGURE bonus. About 250%. Read all comments »Analyst bonus time is coming around again and it doesn’t look entirely pretty. Early figures from the one top US bank that’s remained unscathed by the credit crunch suggest first-year analysts will fare the worst. Meanwhile, for the first time ever it seems analysts are set to receive some of their bonuses in stock.
First of all, here are last year’s figures – courtesy of recruitment firm The Cornell Partnership:
Y1 analyst: base salary (excluding sign-on) £38.5k, average bonus 125%.
Y2 analyst: base salary (excluding sign-on) £45k, average bonus 140%.
Y3 analyst: base salary (excluding sign-on) £50k, average bonus 155%.
And here are the 2008 forecast figures for the ‘top firm’, courtesy of another recruiter which wishes to go unnamed:
Y1 analyst : base salary (excluding sign-on) £37k, average bonus 70%.
Y2 analyst: base salary (excluding sign-on) £44k, average bonus 100%.
Y3 analyst: base salary (excluding sign-on) £51k, average bonus 150%.
Given the 2008 figures are for the one house that’s sidestepped the credit crunch (who could that be?), they could paint an overly rosy view of reality. With this caveat, it’s notable that first-year analysts look set to lose out, while third years appear on track for another good year.
Logan Naidu at The Cornell Partnership says most analysts are expecting bonuses to be circa 25% down this year, which isn’t great considering they’re being worked harder than ever. “We’re getting calls saying three people have left my team, my staffer has unrealistic expectations and my workload is unbearable,” he says.
COMMENTSConcerned Graduate, Asset Management, Tue 10 Jun 08Can someone please clear an issue up for me? Does a first year analyst constitute a graduate who's been there a year, or is it someone who's actually been off the grad scheme for a year?
FO, Capital Markets, Tue 10 Jun 081st yr analyst is someone who has been working for 1yr as an analyst, after completing an undergrad degree (however some people have more qualifications), but still join through the grad scheme. As a 2yr analyst in IBD i can tell you that my bonus was 140% of salary in my first year, and most of my friends at other banks (who were ranked top) got roughly the same. Add your comment »Henry, FX & Money Markets, Tue 10 Jun 08Concerned, "first year analyst" hugely varies by firm. At places like Citi and Deutsche Bank, you spend the first 5-6 months training, where you are a nobody, a "graduate analyst", and then in Jan/Feb when you finally start on a desk you become a 1st year analyst. Meanwhile at Lehman, etc where you start much straightaway on the desk as a 1st yr analyst and get paid 12mths later in the summer. And ABN Amro, HSBC etc where even though you're just doing a rotational scheme you're a 1st yr analyst from the beginning minus initial FSA training.
Henry, FX & Money Markets, Tue 10 Jun 08As a clarification for my above post, I'm talking Sales & Trading where most 2nd yr analysts get 6-figure bonuses (£), don't know what its like with IBD. But makes sense the IBD progression nowhere as rapid as S+T - in IBD as a 2nd yr you're still a Powerpoint/Excel monkey, in trading you can be making some serious P&L by then. Add your comment »NK, Commodities, Tue 10 Jun 08Has anyone got any idea how much an IT person in a major IB can get as bonus in his first year? Add your comment »Ben, Asset Management, Tue 10 Jun 08I think a bonus cut is only reasonable given the figures mentioned above.
Value Investor, Asset Management, Tue 10 Jun 08Henry, your definition of "normal" is interesting... To me, your "normal" sounds like abnormally high earnings at the top of a very optimistic market :-) Take the median between the trough at the end of the internet bubble and the top of last year, and then you might have some "normalized" figures... Add your comment »Princw, Private Equity / Venture Capital, Tue 10 Jun 08Henry - It surprises me you are so full of BS in all the threads here, 2nd year analysts getting low six figure bonus in Sales & Trading - which currency was that six figure bonus in? Add your comment »Henry, FX & Money Markets, Tue 10 Jun 08Ha, I'm showing your comments to 23-24yr old, now 1st yr Associates here, and they're laughing that you don't believe it.
Ben, Equities, Tue 10 Jun 08I have a friend in Equity Derivatives Structuring, got £240k bonus as a 2nd year analyst in February, but that was because he ended up responsible for VP/Director-level stuff. Still, this can happen if you're on an understaffed team or get lucky with a deal. Most people I know got £80-140k though. Nearly all the 1st year grads got £50k-ish. Add your comment » |
||||||
| ||||||
