http://finance.yahoo.com/news/industry-entry-level-salary-335-080215392.html
Fact or Fiction?
I am skeptical leaning toward just outright saying no. Quick google search of the largest hedge fund salary:
http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Bridgewater-Associates-Salaries-E117647.htm
Note: Didn’t we have a whole thread asking who used Glocap and everyone said they were bullsh*t?
I think the article really needs to clarify whether the $335K is base or all-in. I think that a base that high is extremely rare, given that this business is all about performance. Normally, the base for a HF is analyst is between $100-150K. However, with good performance, bonuses can be up to several multiples of base so the all-in number is certainly possible, especially at a “mid-performing hedge fund.”
So a Senior Associate at Bridgewater makes 150 to 200? I think they’re missing a zero.
From the article:
“the average salary for an entry-level analyst at a mid-performing hedge fund totaling $335,000 in 2013, an industry report has found.”
That line is so riddled with qualifiers I don’t even know what to make of it. As Numi said, could certainly be the case all in. It may be down this year, as I believe broadly HF flows are down, but maybe last year was a good year. Also, I would be curious how they define “entry level.” If they define it as true entry-level (i.e. no prior investment experience) then I would be very, very surprised by how high this number is. When you have no investment experience it is hard to contribute at a level that would support that salary.
Fiction! I don’t know any Top 2 MBA, 3/3 CFA, 12" BSD, M’n’Ain’ on the Buysider who’d work for such a pittance. Perhaps the sweatshops out in India are bringing down the average entry level comp. NYC has to be $500k+ BASE for starters.
And Fck Glocap! I wouldn’t trust their non Top 2 MBA, 3/3 CFA ‘research.’
Agree with brain_wash_your_Face – I totally missed that the article specifically called out “entry level.” That doesn’t make sense. It takes a lot of time and dedication to become a good investor, and I would say that early in someone’s career, an analyst could be more of a drag than a boon on the P&L. So when I had first read the article, I thought the $335K all-in was a perfectly reasonable number, but with the “entry level” qualifier that just doesn’t make sense. No entry level analyst makes that kind of money.
Well, this data is based on the “2014 Glocap Hedge Fund Compensation Report” (Is this a magazine from the future?). This report contains, among other things:
• Base level and expected total compensation by title
The summary does not mention data on compensation by experience level.
My guess is that Katie Holliday, the CNBC journalist, assumed the title of “analyst” is an entry level title, like it is at non-research jobs. In fact, analysts at hedge funds are often senior staff members. This would not be the first time that a CNBC writer has made materially incorrect assumptions about industry convention.
Also, $335k is most likely total compensation, not salary. I have never heard of hedge funds that pay their analysts salaries that high.
http://www.glocap.com/gcSitePublicationDetail?cmItem=PC&lmItem=PD&rId=a1JG0000000zeZ4MAI
As i have suspected, still sore after the lazy smart software engineer comment 
analyst base salary at small to mid-range hedge fund is typically $150k - $250K, PLUS bonus structure which is usually “points” of the incentive fee.
a senior analyst at a good shop will have salary in mid-six figures ($300-$500) with more “points” of the incentive
the # referenced in this article has to be “all-in” comp in a decent year for the fund
,
With the exception of a few outliers, there is no way that the $300-500K base salary is correct. I have over a thousand data points on hedge fund compensation ESPECIALLY from the “big hedge funds” of which there are fewer and fewer. This is how rumors get started.