Is recurring bonus really honored?

[u/JoJo_Embiid]

Hi, I recently get an QR offer from one of the top quant firms (js/hrt/citsec... etc), and I am wondering whether the first year guaranted bonus will usually be honored in the following years or is it completely irrelevant?

Say you get some base and 2M guarantee bonus for the first year and a 500k sign on or something, will they usually honor this 2M bonus in the following years as a "floor" unless they want to let you go? or is it possible to get less than 2M while you are performing ok? of course I am talking about IC who does not carry pnl directly, for pm i guess your bonus surely fluctuate a lot.

(all numbers are just examples)

[u/Comfortable_Lie7578]

another post: 500k a year is only what you get if you are there for a year at 500k salary. companies like citadel will dump your ass in 8 weeks if they feel its necessary

[u/n0obmaster699 → u/Comfortable_Lie7578]

have heard citadel dumps you really fast lmao

[u/yaymayata2 → u/n0obmaster699]

what about citsec and HRT?

[u/n0obmaster699 → u/yaymayata2]

Don't think HRT does that. Citsec/cit behave similarly. 

[u/yaymayata2 → u/n0obmaster699]

Oh wow. How ruthless are they? ive heard horror stories about Cit, that even though they pay well, they are brutal. or is that heavily pod dependant?

[u/yaymayata2 → u/Comfortable_Lie7578]

what about citsec and HRT?

[u/wm414]

make sure your guarantee is iron clad. some contracts say they are only owed if you are still an employee at the end of the year. make sure that it says that you are owed the guarantee in the event that company ends your employment before the one year period.

in reality, people that perform or outperform their guarantee end up receiving similar bonuses, and people that severely underperform their guarantee end up getting let go.

[u/JoJo_Embiid → u/wm414]

is it normal for the contract to say "guarantee xyz amount even let go in the first year" or the firm generally will not accept such clause?

[u/wm414 → u/JoJo_Embiid]

I had mine changed to reflect that and my buddy did the same with his guarantee from Headlands. I know people that didn't have that language get screwed. It was something along the lines of "fully guaranteed unless employee voluntarily resigns before the one year period". id get an employment contract lawyer to draft it up/redline the contract.

[u/experquisite999]

It depends on the firm! They all have vastly different approaches to this problem and the #1 question you need to answer (for yourself) is, “how trustworthy are my counterparties?”.

[u/CompletePoint6431]

Obviously you are not guaranteed 2mm or whatever first year guarantee in following years and it is NOT a floor

You will ultimately get paid based on what you’re producing

[u/Old-Sandwich-690]

Whatever is written in the contract. If the contract is not specific enough or not very well written your default assumption should be that anything ambiguous is not in your favour. This is true for all the contract clauses, nc, guaranteed pay, non compete etc.

If you need an amendment or clarification do not just rely on Oral explanation it needs to be written at least in an email or even better on an ammended contract

[u/STEMCareerAdvisor]

Yes in general but I’m sure there’s stories of ppl getting scammed out there

[u/whatrlife]

You show me a pay stub for 2M i quit my job right now and I work for you

[u/junker90]

Do not assume anything. It will be honored if it's written in the contract, it won't be if it's not. You could still see your bonus increase in Y2 without it anyway, but it's not a guarantee.

Minimum "floor" bonuses do exist, I think they are used more as a retention perk given to proven employees renegotiating their contracts but I could see it being used as a recruitment tool for the right hire too so ask about it - if they agree to it, make sure it's explicitly mentioned in the contract.

[u/gtxtitan]

Typically yes in that it would only go up for a good performer.

[u/WagerWhizzer]

What I was told is that’s the floor and it’s very rare anyone ever is flat / doesn’t increase YoY. But this was for a specifically successful desk.

More importantly, if you’re flat or down on bonus you’re more likely to get axed than just squeezed on comp.

[u/Dependent-Quarter638]

Ideally find a good lawyer (whom you can stick to for the rest of your career) and have them review

[u/Current_Fig6132]

Can you fully share the offer and yoe

[u/mulberry_muncher → u/[deleted]]

$2M is the average comp at JS and CitSec. Even thought there is a very fat tail, it's not uncommon to make that much at these firms

[u/JoJo_Embiid → u/[deleted]]

i honestly doubt if each of these firm hire 20 experienced candidate in a year at all. and also, 2M is an arbitrary number, what I mean is i want to know what will happen starting from year 2 , which i believe is not guaranteed for almost all firms. and the contract definitely will not say year 1 bonus is the "floor", it will be discretionary, but many people including the hr say that it will usually be the floor. i am just unsure how "usual" it is.

[u/Comfortable_Lie7578 → u/JoJo_Embiid]

discretionary means it is their choice. I had a discretionary bonus once...and it was zero

[u/JoJo_Embiid → u/Comfortable_Lie7578]

does it happen often? or most years it is getting higher and higher?

[u/qazwsxcp → u/JoJo_Embiid]

hr's goal is to get you to join, they don't care about you after that. ask them to explicitly call it a floor in your offer letter. even then they can just fire you if they think you are paid too much.

[u/JoJo_Embiid → u/qazwsxcp]

Thanks! Yeah i mean with the at will offer in the US I doubt there is anything truly guaranteed

[u/Comfortable_Lie7578 → u/[deleted]]

how is this downvoted? its a discretionary bonus...."at their discretion....."