^ haha numi… let me guess what you will be buying for your girl this Christmas… a pair of lulu’s
you got that right.
^ eventhough there is no seaweed in the material LOL
N.Van - I’m a L3 candidate. Equity Research is not a hard job at all and I don’t really understand what makes it competitive. I’ve been with my BB firm for 7+ years now, so it was sort of easy getting into. I started in Equity Sales.
you have 7 years experience in BB research and your bonus only figures to be 85k? does that not sound low?
I’m a third year associate - I started in sales and was there for 4 years then moved over to research where I started at the associate level. Research bonuses are generally not great below the senior analyst level.
i would expect bonuses to be down and I work in a group that had a record year. there are just too many losses on the structured credit side. Im an analyst (year end payout though) and would be happy to get close to what i got last year.
I would assume Eq research bonuses are dependent, to some extent, upon how much soft dollar commissions the lead analyst brings in?
drs - Soft dollar commissions are a large piece of the puzzle that goes into the black box that spits out equity research bonus numbers. The general profitablility of the firm is also another key ingredient.
bonus are up for my group
I work at a large mortgage shop on the west coast…I am just happy that I still have a job.
If you started a job mid-year, would you expect a pro-rated bonus?
I would assume that a mid-year start would garner either a pro-rated bonus, or more likely, a stub bonus that doesn’t correlate to your colleagues’ take (more of a “Christmas bonus” or token bonus).
2 of the best 3 months we’ve ever had (asset flow) were Oct. and Nov. This now puts us firmly over our '07 goal and there are still 4 days in Nov. and all of Dec. Barring a market crash in the next two weeks, there is no reason bonuses shouldn’t be anything less than fabulous this year. A few conversations with coworkers, though, make it seem like the company is not doing well. Others aren’t as positive. I hope this is due to unwarranted pessimism.
xsellside, i wish i could join you. our flagship fund (which our incentive comp is based on) is down double digits. i do not have high expectations. think 5-10k, but closer to 5…basically meaningless. compare that to +150k in merely an average year and 2007 has not been kind. oh well, that’s life on the buy side i guess, overpaid in the good years and underpaid in the bad ones (at least at my firm).
egowayback, $5-10K for total bonus, or down $5-10K from last year?
“think 5-10k, but closer to 5…basically meaningless. compare that to +150k” there is no way i could take that kind of hit…150K last year, 5-10K this year…
total 
it’s a small firm. i have a relatively small base but a generous participation in the incentive fees. this year certainly not much fun. i guarantee there are ops people making more than me in 2007. but if we were to have a year just what our historical average (about 19% net) is, the numbers get abnormally large for someone in my position. here’s hoping for a monster 2008.
wegowayback Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > total > > it’s a small firm. i have a relatively small base > but a generous participation in the incentive > fees. this year certainly not much fun. i > guarantee there are ops people making more than me > in 2007. but if we were to have a year just what > our historical average (about 19% net) is, the > numbers get abnormally large for someone in my > position. here’s hoping for a monster 2008. Wouldn’t you need a super-duper monster year in 08 to really get paid, or are there no high water marks?
Turkish Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > “think 5-10k, but closer to 5…basically > meaningless. compare that to +150k” > > there is no way i could take that kind of > hit…150K last year, 5-10K this year… my wife wants me to get another job…with our first baby on the way i’ve been thinking about it. but i cling to the idea of a 7 figure bonus. in 2002 (before i joined) we were up like 50%. i guess i’m holding out hope for another big year like that, and i honestly believe that we’ll have that kind of year in the next 3 years. i’m still in my 20’s. it’s tough to find a job where just the POTENTIAL to make that kind of money in a year is possible.