- Investment bankers help companies, municipalities, governments and countries raise money. They plan, organize and issue securities in the primary market. The securities may be either debt instruments or new stock offerings. Investment bankers also act as consultants in financial transactions such as mergers and acquisitions.
- The publication Careers in Finance published salary information for first-year investment bankers, usually called associates, assistants or junior analysts. Pay, comprising base salary plus bonuses, averaged $100,000 to $130,000 as of December 2010. Individuals with an MBA received slightly higher starting salaries than candidates with only a bachelor's degree. MBA starting salaries ranged from $90,000 to $180,000. Bonuses varied widely from 10 percent to 50 percent of salary. Bonuses are an expected component of investment banker salaries. The financial crisis of 2008 temporarily halted generous bonus offerings, but by 2010 many companies were again giving substantial bonuses.
- PayScale, a company specializing in the collection of compensation data, published a report based on 737 returned surveys on the salaries of associate investment bankers as of May 2011. The respondents were 76 percent male and 24 percent female. Women's salaries ranged from $48,745 to $84,205. The men's salary scale was $56,992 to $95,292. Base pay ranged from a low of $41,224 to a high of $103,990. Bonuses varied from $3,035 to $51,195. Many companies also offered profit-sharing payouts. Total pay reached anywhere from a low of $42,224 to a high of $148,717. The salary scale of associates for some of the most popular investment banking companies included $54,255 to $125,308 for Goldman Sachs and $40,268 to $124,432 for Morgan Stanley. JP Morgan Chase reported the highest salaries: $63,023 to $102,892. The highest-earning degree was an MBA in finance.
- Wall Street Comps was formed by a group of former investment bankers who wanted to know what others in their field were earning. The information is based on surveys returned by employees. The company does not research the firms for official corporate numbers. Associates, employed by firms for five months or less, earned an average base salary of $101,000 plus $40,280 in bonuses in 2010. Associates 1, employed by firms up to 18 months, earned an average base salary of $118,038 plus bonuses of $127,321.
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