Just need your vote - Associate Trader in a big Investment Bank - Financial Risk Analyst in a Fintech that has room to grow/ipo The fintech pays more in TC. Will post more info on comp when available. 3YoE - 130K TC
I’m at a fintech and I’d take the trader role. Because if trading doesn’t work out you can join fintech and bring direct insight into the market making process (you’ll have more clout coming from trading background). Don’t worry about TC as with trading the bonus should be much higher and throughout the years
Trader’s TC is like 80% bonus. You won’t see that as an entry level grunt but as you move up the ladder and you have a proven P&L track record, you earning potential is in the millions. I would take that job over the fintech one. However, just know if you lose a bunch of money for the bank you will be fired.
market making in which product? think it really depends on that tbh
rates
in that case you’re definitely just underpaid. have heard of associate level rates / swaps guys getting 200-400k TC at major US banks
Fintech. Skip trading unless you're on the prop desk. What future do you have in market making? You have to make sure you're on the prop desk otherwise forget it
Prop desk at a bank?
Ah i good callout. I forget how dated i am. They were able to do so before 08. I think it was the volcker rule . That makes my advice much easier doesnt it
130TC as an associate is definitely under paid. I was an analyst and that was first year analyst comp not associate level. TC at higher levels can vary widely by person and year. VPs make anywhere from 300k-~700k, the days of VPs cracking a million are largely over. But I know VPs whose TC varied by 2x year to year. MDs can clear seven figures. wlb on rates is rough, hours are long and it’s a flow desk so no matter how senior you are you cant be gone from the desk for more than a 5 minutes. Even as an MD you’re working 60 hours minimum in rates- on the desk from before LIBOR sets at 6:55am till well after the market closes at 5:30pm. And as a senior person you’ve got to be comfortable taking massive risk- the stress levels are very high because you have clear pnl targets to hit and if you don’t clear them you’re probably getting fired. Also what bank you are at matters.....wouldn’t want to have been at DB the last few years, most of your TC is equity and there’s has mostly gone south
What future career path are you looking for? YoE? If you do not have plans to work in IB in the future, go with the other option.
3 YoE - always planned to work in IB and worked hard to get into trading. But compensation is way lower than expected. The other role seems to offer more in terms of compensation. The question is: Can staying in trading long-term rewards more than a Fintech company that will offer equity and good compensation.
Ultimately dependent on the fintech company, but it's easier to go from trader -> fintech, than fintech -> trader. If you've worked hard to get in IB, then go for the trading role since the higher TC with the fintech company is only a short-term gain.