How much can an Associate Analyst or Research Associate expect to make starting out with CFA level 1? I know this is relative, depending on your location, company etc but what is the usual structure? Those with experience or know of others in the field, starting out, is it mainly a base salary or a base and an equally competitive bonus package? Any info or actual figures would be much appreciated.
keep in mind that CFA gets you the job, your experience and performance gets you the money. Assuming no experience at all, coming out of ugrad, you’re looking at 40k~60k depending on location w/ 20~40% salary as bonus. But depending on your performance, your bump in salary will be SIGNIFICANTLY faster than sellside counter parts. 100% boost in total comp over 3 yrs isn’t uncommon.
Thanks for the insight. Are you currently in that role?
I would say that being a L1 through L3 candidate is generally irrelevant to compensation. From my experience the only statistically significant jump due to participation in the CFA program occurs after becoming a charterholder.
I just wanted an idea on entry level ranges because you can’t actually get readily available info like you would for accounting or engineering.
Yes I’m in that role. Buyside salaries are so difficult to come by because each firm requires different level of expertise for their associates. Some firms require their “first year associates” to be at the Senior Sell-Side Associate level before recruitment and thus pay them a bundle. Some firms prefer associates to just do mundane tasks and hire ugrads on the cheap. Experience and performance is the only factor for compensation, not any fancy degrees or certifications.
When I started out as a research analyst at a long/short equity hedge fund 1.5 years out of college, base was $50,000 + subjective bonus.
I recently graduated from undergrad and working at a asset manager as analyst. Starting pay for me was 45k with bonus ranging from 50-150% of base, so it definitely based on performance.
good to see someone talking about salary which is mine also major concerns. 1. CFA level 1 also can fetch you a job with no experience??.is it true,i m in india so would like to hear in this context. 2.if yes,how much we can expect,let role be like equity research,buy side,or fixed income securities(i am quite new to CFA so dont know what all jobs we can have after CFA even) 3.level 1 to level 3,surely have advantage but in what ratio., just curious to know.
Thanks for all the responses
ashish_iitr Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > good to see someone talking about salary which is > mine also major concerns. > 1. CFA level 1 also can fetch you a job with no > experience??.is it true,i m in india so would like > to hear in this context. > 2.if yes,how much we can expect,let role be like > equity research,buy side,or fixed income > securities(i am quite new to CFA so dont know what > all jobs we can have after CFA even) > 3.level 1 to level 3,surely have advantage but in > what ratio., > > just curious to know. The structure in India might be different from that in the US & Canada …and Ideally you should already have an idea of what you want to do long term before pursuing the Charter …