Investment Banking Pay

I need to preface this by saying I don't actually know. I have a rough idea of what my first year compensation is, but I'm guessing on the performance bonus, and the hours per week are estimated from what analysts at wallstreetoasis.com are saying from my area and division.

I decided to try to map out the first 10 years, and I was fairly aggressive with my progression. My hour per day estimates are below.

So I'm thinking 2 years at Analyst, 3 at Associate, and then through VP to Director by the end of 10 years on the job. I know it's possible, I'm not sure if its plausible, but we have to start somewhere. I expect to be working 70 hour weeks as an Analyst, however I know that 100 hour weeks are possible. I set a lower bound at 45 hours, there is now way the deal could get sweeter than that, and if I'm only putting in 45 hour weeks its because my team has no work, so I'm likely both not looking at a good bonus and possibly out of a job.

Now for the numbers.

My sensitivity assumptions are subjective, should be viewed as upper and lower bands, not any statistical deviation measure derived from actual data sets. My expectation growth assumptions however are not entirely made up, there are lots of web resources that estimate salary scaling over time, I primarily used payscale.com.

So whats the story. The upper graph shows clearly that i-banking is a 6 figure foray with bulge bracket banks, a mind boggling figure for any starving student. Of course this is all pre-tax, but it's nothing to complain about. The lower graph however tells the real story; one that is a common find for anyone seriously considering the industry. The pay per hour can be less than great. I suggest you read this mergers and inquisitions article, to hear the horror stories of i-bankers making less than McDonalds wages in the crunch.

Now we aren't heading into a recession, especially not in commodities which is my area of work, so I should be hitting above $20 an hour, but there is no real reason to expect my pay to be that much higher. My "good" forecast assumes some pretty legendary bonus numbers, I really think I'm going to be hitting close to my expectations, especially early on. All this tells us that i-banking has its proving ground period, just like every other competitive entry level position in business. The salary numbers are big, but the hours put in at the office can be legendary; just look at all the i-banking blogs that talk about that exact topic!

It is sure to be an interesting couple of years.