M&A pay favours seniors
There is one thing you can depend upon if you want to work for a boutique M&A outfit: you won't get a guaranteed bonus.
Recruiters globally say guarantees are seen as a no-no at small firms. "The bottom line at boutiques is very dependent on performance," says Libby Fisher, managing director of boutique-focused search firm Hutton Consulting. "They will almost never offer a guarantee."
By moving to a boutique you may also find yourself out of pocket, particularly if you're relatively junior.
"If you were earning €100,000 at a bulge bracket bank, you might get €50,000, or €60,000 at a boutique," says Tracy Turton, a consultant in the Milan office of Horton International.
Fisher says vice president level bankers who move to London boutiques can expect to earn a salary in the region of 85,000, plus a bonus of 100% or a little more. At investment banks, she says top staff at a similar level are earning 350,000 or more.
However, Joe McCann at New York-based search firm J.H. McCann & Company, says the pay disadvantages of joining a boutique don't apply at senior levels. "It may be the case that you are paid less when you're coming up," he says. "But at senior levels you can get paid a lot more - pay tends to plateau in banks, but keeps rising in high performing boutiques."
