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What Quants make what money?

TeenPhilosopher

Joined
11/25/17
Messages
2
Points
13
Hey All,

I’m new on this forum and I just wanted to ask (since it’s so difficult to get any consistent information elsewhere on the internet) just how much each different kind of quant can expect to make at the junior-mid levels.

From my understanding, there are three major types of “quants”, yes? Quant Analysts, quant traders, and quant developers (and quant researches, I suppose). How much can a person in each one of these fields expect to earn in their first year? What are the base salaries at a good company in NYC, and what do the bonuses look like? I’ve heard numbers for juniors in “quant roles” (whatever that means) making 300$k all in the first few years. I’ve also heard numbers like “barely above 100$k, even after a few years”. Which is it, and for what roles?

Quant traders are the only ones with who get a portion of P&L, correct? I would assume that they would be the group with the highest potential compensation?

What are the requirements to become a quant trader versus, say, a quantative analyst?
 
Like any role.

Back office quant won't make much but will have less barriers to entry and a much cushier life-style.

Front office quants will make in-line with sales-traders but have rougher hours. (I'm doing this now and I do just shy of 12 hours a day).

If a hedge fund does well and you are partially responsible sure you'll make 300k. If you do well at a bank you'll get a decent bonus in front office.

Same story, different title...
 
Junior can mean a lot of things. Someone coming out of a PhD program and recruited by a hedge fund for a very specific in-demand skill set could, plausibly, get 300k after a couple of years. But that's an outlier number. Also higher pay typically means higher job uncertainty. You could make 300k one year and be unemployed the next.

At a bank in a front office role they start analysts at a base of 80k-90k. (Maybe this has gone up recently - I know Goldman's Tech analysts (not front office) now start at 100k)

After 2-3 years you make associate and you are bumped to 120k. After you are an associate for 3 years you're probably at 150k-160k, and they make you VP. The range widens here since you could be a VP for a while - likely 160k-300k is the range. Above that is Director - probably 200k-400k, and MD - 250k-500k+. Notice how the ranges overlap a lot at the higher levels. That's because of the time it takes to get from VP -> D and especially D -> MD. Your salary might increase over time but you will not necessarily be promoted. There are literally thousands of VPs and Directors at any bank. Most trading floors have a small number of analysts/associates, a bulk of VP/Directors, and a moderate number of MDs.

Note those numbers are all base salaries. Bonus depends heavily on desk/group/firm performance and function. "Back office" quants will make smaller bonuses but similar base salaries.
 
mhy said:
You could make 300k one year and be unemployed the next.
Click to expand...
Words to live by. Financial jobs are without security, pension, retirement plan, hence the common mentality of making as much as you can while you can.
Keep in mind that NYC, Boston, Chicago i.e financial centers are very high cost of living cities so your money does not go as far as in other parts of the country.
Trump tax may take a bigger bite out of your wallet.

Best just to think of this in term of: do you have employable skill set that make you harder to replace? The money part will follow.
 
Andy Nguyen said:
Words to live by. Financial jobs are without security, pension, retirement plan, hence the common mentality of making as much as you can while you can.
Keep in mind that NYC, Boston, Chicago i.e financial centers are very high cost of living cities so your money does not go as far as in other parts of the country.
Trump tax may take a bigger bite out of your wallet.

Best just to think of this in term of: do you have employable skill set that make you harder to replace? The money part will follow.
Click to expand...

Excellent post. The long game = Skills, skills skills.

Compensation is proportional to skills.

People need to stop thinking in terms of how much will I make in 1 year, or 2 years and need to ask the question --- How do your skills contribute to the firms revenue and bottom line? Over the next 10 years how much value will I be able to generate with my current/future skill-set.

This is why there is such a large variance in salaries in finance. If you are an execution or operations anlayst at a Hedge Fund generating enormous amounts of value you could get paid more than a trader at a different financial firm. Role doesn't matter at all. What your skills do for the firms revenue and bottom line matters. And that is the only things which matter on a personal level. How can you leverage your skills to be invaluable.

If you have strong computer science/software engineering fundamentals, understanding of statistics/machine learning + econometric modelling your ability to generate revenue or save cost for any firm in any sector will be high.

This could be in digital marketing, consulting, oil and gas - heck any sector.

P.S. Europe quant compensation sucks though. Would like to see QuantNet getting more data on this.
 
(Base) Compensation depends on:

  • Personality (compatibility with team)/Drive (passion about earning more)/Communication(especially with manager
  • Previous comp (sounds silly but it's a big one. Getting a 40% increase going to a different firm is not uncommon. So one associate with 3 years exp might be making 100k, and an "identical" associate could be making 140k)
  • Skills
  • As pingu mentioned, marketing of you, your skills, and your accomplishments
  • and more...
 
MRoss said:
...
  • Previous comp (sounds silly but it's a big one. Getting a 40% increase going to a different firm is not uncommon. So one associate with 3 years exp might be making 100k, and an "identical" associate could be making 140k)
Click to expand...
This is important. I have seen this in my company. VPs make from low 100s to 300s doing the same sort of job within the same global group.
 
IntoDarkness said:
if im only making 40k now, am i screwed????
Click to expand...

Are you serious, dude? I thought you had all the answers on education and preparation for a quant career. You told me I needed a 4.0 from an ivy league school to get a decent job.

You're only making 40k?

I'm not bashing you, I'm just really surprised.

Depends how old you are, I guess. If you're under ~32, I would say no, you're not screwed.
 
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NumeroUno said:
Are you serious, dude? I thought you had all the answers on education and preparation for a quant career. You told me I needed a 4.0 from an ivy league school to get a decent job.

You're only making 40k?

I'm not bashing you, I'm just really surprised.

Depends how old you are, I guess. If you're under ~32, I would say no, you're not screwed.
Click to expand...
1) he/she might have been sarcastic
2) Salary has nothing to do with preparation to a quant career. The advise given might still be valid.
 
MRoss said:
Like any role.

Back office quant won't make much but will have less barriers to entry and a much cushier life-style.

Front office quants will make in-line with sales-traders but have rougher hours. (I'm doing this now and I do just shy of 12 hours a day).

If a hedge fund does well and you are partially responsible sure you'll make 300k. If you do well at a bank you'll get a decent bonus in front office.

Same story, different title...
Click to expand...


Front office quants don't necessarily make more than middle/back office quants. I know someone who used to work as a front office quant in a trading desk and moved to risk quant area and make more money.
 
wkdwnstjdTprtm said:
Front office quants don't necessarily make more than middle/back office quants. I know someone who used to work as a front office quant in a trading desk and moved to risk quant area and make more money.
Click to expand...
Most people who make a move will make more money; that's part of why they are moving. But you take an average front office quant, they are making significantly more than a back office quant.
 
These numbers seem accurate based on conversations I have had with friends over the years at various funds.
 
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