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This text initially appeared on Enterprise Insider.
Psst! How a lot was your bonus?
On Wall Road, your end-of-year paycheck can usually point out your standing at work. But, understanding the place your bonus pay ranks in comparison with friends will not be so easy.
In an effort to shed some mild on Wall Road pay developments, recruiting agency Prospect Rock Companions surveyed greater than 900 funding bankers about their 2024 salaries and bonuses.
The survey was performed between December 1, 2024, and February 28, 2025, utilizing Prospect Rock’s banking trade contacts. It is the third 12 months Meridith Dennes, the agency’s managing accomplice, has performed it.
“It is all the time been so cryptic,” Dennes informed Enterprise Insider in regards to the Wall Road compensation construction. “The entire level of the survey is that compensation is far more nuanced than what folks speak about.”
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Survey respondents included bankers from all ranks, from analysts as much as vice presidents and managing administrators, and throughout a large number of protection teams, and corporations.
Prospect Rock Companions gave BI permission to publish choose slides from its full survey. The outcomes shared right here recommend that so-called elite boutique banks (assume Evercore, Lazard, and Centerview) noticed whole compensation will increase of between 11% to 68% throughout all roles. Complete pay for associates at elite boutiques rose a median of 31% for first-year associates and 33% for second-year associates. Managing director compensation at elite boutiques jumped from about $1 million in 2023 to over $1.7 million in 2024, a rise of 68%.
These bonus insights come as Wall Road waits with bated breath to see whether or not the M&A rebound many trade specialists predicted for 2025 will absolutely materialize or fizzle out.
“There’s a lot uncertainty — geopolitical danger, the influence on the personal sector of DOGE cuts, tariffs, and the rate of interest atmosphere — which may trigger numerous turmoil available in the market,” Dennes stated.
The funding banking hiring surge that began on the finish of 2024 continues, nevertheless, Dennes stated.
“I, as a recruiter, am seeing a rise in job requisitions coming in, but it surely’s a lot more durable to search out expertise than what folks need,” she stated. “Extra corporations who have not used recruiters within the final two years are popping out of the woodwork now.”
2024 compensation overview
2024 comp throughout all ranges Prospect Rock Companions through BI
This portion of the survey provides the common 2024 compensation for survey respondents in any respect funding banking ranges.
Essentially the most junior staff — first-year analysts — averaged a base pay of greater than $110,000. The information additionally suggests that the majority analysts earned a bonus that equaled about 50% of their base pay in 2024.
Increased-level bankers — vice presidents and up — typically earned bonuses equal to or greater than their base pay. The most important beneficial properties went to group heads, who’re normally managing administrators and companions. They noticed common bonuses of greater than $1.7 million.
What bulge-brackets are paying associates
Complete common bulge-bracket comp, 2023-2024 Prospect Rock Companions through BI
Bulge-bracket corporations are the most important banks, which are inclined to deal with the largest offers and, subsequently, have the most important funding banking groups. These corporations have a tendency to incorporate Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup.
Associates are the second-most junior rank at an funding financial institution after analysts. This chart reveals that associate-level survey respondents who work at bulge brackets earned between $176,000 and $221,000 in base pay for 2024. They reported greater bonuses in 2024 over 2023.
What middle-market banks are paying associates
Complete common middle-market comp, 2023-2024 Prospect Rock Companions
Center-market bankers are inclined to deal with smaller shoppers, usually these with annual income of below $1 billion. This cohort included banks like William Blair, Piper Sandler, Oppenheimer, and Baird, Dennes stated.
The typical 2024 base pay for affiliate bankers at these corporations was decrease than at bulge brackets — however not by very a lot. The typical 2024 bonus for every place was much more for this cohort than for survey respondents who work at bulge brackets.
What ‘elite boutiques’ are paying associates
Complete common elite boutique comp, 2023-2024 Prospect Rock Companions
Affiliate-level bankers who work at “elite boutiques” take the cake for the best common 2024 base pay and bonus, reporting greater numbers than their friends at bulge brackets and middle-market corporations.
Elite boutiques are thought of the top-tier boutique banks that may compete with the large corporations. In 2024, Evercore, Centerview, and Lazard, for instance, snagged prime 10 positions on the league tables for each international and US M&A recommendation, in line with M&A tracker LSEG.
Survey respondents from this group work at corporations like Evercore, Centerview, Lazard, PJT Companions, and Moelis.
Extra particulars on ‘elite boutique’ pay
Prospect Rock Companions
These banks are inclined to focus solely on funding banking versus bigger corporations, which can have shopper banking and asset administration companies. Some boutiques additionally deal with offers inside a selected sector, like media, telecom, or healthcare.
Meaning they usually have stronger execution talents, stated Dennes, and subsequently greater charge earnings per banker on their leaner groups.
“One of the crucial vital findings is the clear correlation between elevated compensation in 2024 and recovering deal volumes,” she wrote in an outline part of the survey’s findings. “This restoration seems most pronounced at elite boutiques, the place compensation is instantly tied to deal efficiency and income technology.”
Pay by trade group in 2023 & 2024
Compensation for level-two banking associates by protection space Prospect Rock Companions
Second-year associates, whose 2024 comp is described on this part of the survey outcomes, are bankers who’ve been within the discipline for wherever from two to 5 years, relying on whether or not they began in funding banking as an analyst or had been employed out of an MBA program.
The most important group of respondents on this group described themselves as M&A generalists. The survey says this cohort averaged $187,000 in base pay and about $134,000 in bonuses final 12 months.
Different well-paid associates on this group labored in enterprise companies, restructuring, and DCM.
Some total comp is down from years in the past
Common whole comp and its modifications Prospect Rock Companions
The report reveals how common comp has modified since 2022. In some circumstances, it wasn’t for the higher, like for vice presidents and managing administrators.
For context, international dealmaking hit greater than $3.16 trillion in 2024, which is up 10% over 2023, however nonetheless decrease than 2022 volumes of $3.45 trillion, in line with offers tracker LSEG.
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