Bonus floor at hedge fund
Have an offer at a hedge fund (2S, JS, DE Shaw) in a dev role (non-quant). First year guaranteed bonus at 100k but recruiter says next years are not guaranteed (up to my and company performance), however the first year number is a floor and will go up. Is this basically guaranteed or fired? How much does this vary for devs? Any SWE in HF see their bonus drop, like after market drops last year? I have competing tech co. offer with 65k RSUs per year for 4 years so less than 100k first year at HF but better than 0k bonus in years 2-4 if that’s a realistic possibility. TC: 250k
In citadel, if your performance is poor, you won’t be around during the bonus period. Never seen bonus drop in DEShaw though. So you can think of the 100k as floor. But if the market crashes expect less or no bonus.
I would rephrase this as for folks low in the food chain, unless the market absolutely tanks your bonus would still roughly be the same. Also, when you won’t be around that is let go before year end, the company typically pays you the pro rated bonus for that year.
Is de shaw good for pure devs? Do you have any numbers?
Two Sigma guys position themselves as a “unique” technology company with 2% turnover rate. These data feeds must be pretty sexy to work on. If TC could drop, what else would prevent those people from leaving?
Have you explained your concerns to the recruiter? I've spoken to recruiters at different hedge funds and they have different approaches to the bonus. At Two Sigma, your bonus is expected to increase every year. You wouldn't see a huge drop in your bonus. So I'd easily take the 100k guaranteed first year bonus at Two Sigma over the guaranteed 65k per year RSU. Haven't experienced the other companies you mentioned so couldn't comment on them.
What about bonus deferment (just found out about this), 20% goes into HF’s fund: good, bad, ugly? Receive the deferred portion when leave company, no strings attached (+gains/-losses)? Kind of sounds like an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) in a way except for a HF since they are privately held.