With the month of July slowly approaching, comes the anticipation of the first bonus. Man o man will you not be the envy of all your friends when you wake up on that glorious day in July, get ready for work and check your bank balance at the first ATM and wow. The numbers will go on and on and on and so will the smile on your face, thinking “it’s all worth it!” – that is, until your blackberry starts going off like mad, from the flurry of emails a client starts unleashing.
But that’s looking too far into the future. For the moment, you can just look forward to the cash. As you spend most of your downtime pondering on the cash, you run countless combinations and permutations of what this money really means.
Sounding your buddies at fellow bulge bracket banks, you know you can expect something like £45,000, before Gordon Brown slashes an automatic 40% off.
Ok, so £27,000 is not bad at all!
You can go to Selfridges and buy five Bang & Olufsen TVs (bedroom, dining room, bathroom, kitchen and study) and still have some cash to spare for a night out on the town. You can get yourself half a dozen good tailored suits and have some change for a pair of hand made shoes or two. You can take a long holiday around the world in first class (hehe, if you had the time) and have money to spare when you got back. Ok, you could do loads, but really, what does £27k mean?
Would you pay £27k for a full month of blissful, uninterrupted, mobile-less, blackberry-less holiday time? Sure. Wouldn’t anyone in i-banking. Gladly. You sit down to do the maths and realize the gravity of what you have just said.
But that’s looking too far into the future. For the moment, you can just look forward to the cash. As you spend most of your downtime pondering on the cash, you run countless combinations and permutations of what this money really means.
Sounding your buddies at fellow bulge bracket banks, you know you can expect something like £45,000, before Gordon Brown slashes an automatic 40% off.
Ok, so £27,000 is not bad at all!
You can go to Selfridges and buy five Bang & Olufsen TVs (bedroom, dining room, bathroom, kitchen and study) and still have some cash to spare for a night out on the town. You can get yourself half a dozen good tailored suits and have some change for a pair of hand made shoes or two. You can take a long holiday around the world in first class (hehe, if you had the time) and have money to spare when you got back. Ok, you could do loads, but really, what does £27k mean?
Would you pay £27k for a full month of blissful, uninterrupted, mobile-less, blackberry-less holiday time? Sure. Wouldn’t anyone in i-banking. Gladly. You sit down to do the maths and realize the gravity of what you have just said.
Basically, as an i-banker, you are marginally better off than if you were receiving minimum wage, and not only from an hours point of view, but from a personal willingness to give good money to be left alone point of view.
Ok. Enough of these silly thoughts. You head to the bathrooms to splash cold water on your face and start thinking like an i-banker again.
18 comments:
Why don't you view it as "extra cash that can be used to retire in the near future"?
Damn, I know how this feels. My MD used to say that he doesn't know why the tube drivers strike, since they make more an hour than almost every analyst in the bank.
That said, is bonus pay really 45k this year? Seems steep for an analyst...
That's what the rumour has been around here. If you make top bucket, they said it's above 100% of your base salary. Keeping fingers crossed anyhow. I guess the cash is there, but it depends on whether the pennied to make the difference get distributed to senior management of the juniors. What have you heard about numbers this year?
Hi IB Monkey,
Just got introduced to your blog yesterday, it's a very entertaining read. Will be starting as an analyst myself in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to it.
Two questions though; are you a 2nd year analyst? 1st yr salary is pretty much 36K base ad you're on 45K.
Secondly, what do you think the chances are of moving from a mid-tier american bank in the City to a top of the range PE firm? Or do PE firms only recruit from a select few BBs?
Your views would be much appreciated.
Last year for top ranked analysts even in the first year bonus was c. 120% of salary. Likely to be the same this year.
numbers in the states are rumoured to be 90-110k usd for a first year analyst.
that is, for top analyst
Thanks for the comments.
@ anonymous from the states: thanks for the numbers. always nice to get a benchmark for what the street is expecting.
@ anonymous intern to be: yep going on 2nd year - i.e. now a first year analyst. The table is illustrative. The monkey has to be careful not to be too accurate as this would give away the bank I am at and my ranking, etc. Lets just say youre ballpark there.
@ anonymous monkey to be: on the move from ib to pe, I guss it depends on which mid tier bb to which pe. The type of experience you will have gotten before your move will move the needle here.
No chance you work 20/7/365.
do you mean no chance you work 20/7/365 in banking or the monkey in particular?
Always same old shit, guys. The monkey only took the wrong fork in the banking road.
Just work 9/5/230, and you'll simply keep the bonus, without silly ibanker questions.
It is physically impossible to work 20 hours a day every day of the year. NOBODY does it...no banker, no analyst, nobody. Period. It is a source of bragging rights to show how tough you are that you worked a ton, but don't exaggerate to the point of impossibility.
@ Trader. I've got a question. Where do I sign :)
Hey Monkey, when will you be posting the 'Intern success guide'? Would really like to hear your advice on what to do/not to do and how to make the most of your internship.
Not long now, before we interns start living the dream...
@ anonimous intern to be:
The monkey might consider it, but don't you go pulling any tricks of the trade if you're an intern on my watch, coz I'll know you've been reading the all nighter blog instead of doing those comps :)
@ intern to be:
An investment banking intern success guide you wanted, an investment banking intern guide you got :) Happy reading.
@ ibanker : I let you check the number of days the stock exchange is opened ; I let you check the opening and closing hours.
I checked, I signed.
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