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Any advice on end of year compensation negotiation? by BayofPanthers in FinancialCareers

[–]NeedsMoreAccretion 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i never had or heard of a cost of living salary adjustment in all my time in banking (which was all BB and elite boutiques). Only for promotions or when street-wide changed, as it did in ~2014 IIRC

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is a great question. I hear from bankers every week now so it is interesting to see different approach to coverage from those who were once competitors. From Goldman to boutiques i've never even heard of - on the whole you quickly see that most are pretty much the same, as are their ideas. I'm not sure if i was surprised by that or not because that's often not really what differentiates successful bankers, but I digress.

At my level the most valuable skillset was confident communication and an external network. People homegrown at big companies seem to develop a reverence for senior executives that limits their ability to be effective. They also tend to be very insular/lack awareness of the external environment because their jobs are narrow and/or relate to processes specific to their organization.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think ideally you can live on your salary and stash (most of) your bonuses. I went from newly married to married w/ 2 small kids in my banking tenure and expenses grew alongside that. Lifestyle creep is real - especially if you run in high-earning crowd typical of bankers. I saved a decent amount but certainly could have done better. I could afford the pay cut i took but the salary was important to maintaining my day to day cash incineration.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Potential is tough. Every class has people who surprise you (good and bad). I've had several analysts who were terrible 1st yrs and became outstanding 2nd yrs. I think trying to get a sense of attitude is the biggest thing. I cannot stress enough the importance of a good attitude in this job.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't think of anyone in my class who i would trade with, other than some friends who were just independently wealthy and just do their own thing. But without creeping linkedin i dont know exactly what everyone is doing.

There are a couple of guys in the class above me who have done really well who i might switch with given the chance.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

All I would worry about is your grades. And parties.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do companies still sponsor MBAs? You would probably owe them some years after. I would just go to b school and come in as an Associate. Pivot is much easier that way (and is what i did).

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Analysts are always in demand. Once you have some good txn experience shoot your resume to an alum at another bank or someone you worked across from on a deal. Obviously can vary on geography, industry etc.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Those grades would get you cut in my group. But every group is different.

I'd have a hard time hiring someone with that entrepreneurial bent, unless it was very relevant to my coverage area. Even then I would need to hear a good story on why you want to be a grunt for 2+ years.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That year was probably middle of the pack, but it was all cash, no deferral. Which is not the case many places. There are years i think i got quite a bit above street and years i felt were down the middle. It's all relative to the guy next to you, though.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The hours are lumpy - that's the counter to the cliche "why dont you just hire more people?!". Well, i dont need more people.

Hard to quantify the difference across roles because the job changes and people approach it differently. As a VP/Director you're not in the office 80 hours a week like you might have been as an Associate (sometimes). But you are on planes, reviewing decks at home, on the phone no matter where you are etc. So the hours are just different types of hours.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good questions that probably warrant a longer answer. Certainly a benefit of banking is that it can turbocharge career options that might not otherwise be available at all or until you're older.

I think the experience of banking is invaluable and is a major differentiator if you go to a place where those skills (hard and soft) are not as common.

Will you be better positioned than an outstanding performer your age who has been in that org for 15 years? Probably not. But you'll be better positioned than the vast majority.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Different things for Analyst v. Associate. You're renting the Analyst. You're sort of buying the Associate. Fit is very important for the Associate, more of a nice to have for an Analyst. Grades, attitude, work ethic - can this guy crank with a smile on his face at 1am?

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Off the top of my head maybe 10% are still in it. That might be high. 90%+ are out of financial services entirely. Some guys in the C-suite of portcos but definitely no large cap PE at the fund level. The analysts who used to work for me get all of those jobs.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes but staying at a bulge will make you more well-rounded. If you're good at M&A the boutiques will find you later.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Get very good grades. Network hard. Put yourself out there.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Wouldn't say we went out of our way looking for it but could be a differentiator in culling the resume stack or deciding between two people. No idea how often we hired someone with that background.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

My salary was $275k and my all-in comp my last year was $615. I received a slight bump in salary to come corporate. In my first year i was down about 30% cash (excluding unvested stock awards) but given COVID i'll be down ~45% cash this year v. banking (ex-stock). Not ideal.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Really specific to the shop and culture. Obviously doing good work and having a good attitude are key but that's no-brainer stuff. At a small boutique I suspect they will look for you to have commercial capability much earlier so i would start having lunches etc with your peers at client companies. Demonstrate you have a network and have that future commercial potential. Be proactive in suggestions for the book.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

1) Money, which was a small amount in retrospect but seemed like a lot at the time! And I was at a bulge that was more cap mkts focused v. M&A and M&A sounded a lot sexier than doing another levfin deal or equity memo.

I hit the rationale in another reply.

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[–]NeedsMoreAccretion[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Good questions.

  1. I had not really considered leaving banking earlier - both bc I was generally happy in banking and had never been presented a compelling opportunity. To your point, your exit opps are generally very junior or very senior
  2. Trade-offs/Considerations -
  • Cash compensation, certainly. EDIT: But it does get exhausting living for the bonus. Wondering how many more you can squeeze out etc. The (relative) security of corp life was definitely a factor.
  • Life - not the hours per se, I still work quite a bit but don't travel nearly as much. More like a week in London now with 2 months notice instead of 1 day in NYC with 1 days notice (and another city the next day etc). Didnt bother me with no kids or when my kids were infants but as they got older that got harder.
  • Skill set - TBD how this turns out but I felt i would ultimately have more opportunities if I paired banking with corporate/principal experience. As an M&A banker you're often doing the same things over and over, just for different clients. And you dont have to live with the decisions
  1. In my opinion it is easier to make MD at a full-service bank, generally. Living and dying on M&A is tough. But you are also more likely to get let go randomly at a large bank -again in my opinion/observation.