Equity researchers employed by hedge funds firms are earning around $100k per year more than equivalent employees in the investment banking industry, according to a report by eFinancialCareers.
The report cites the 2022 equities compensation report from recruitment consultancy Dartmouth Partners as revealing that there is a star differential between the compensation packages paid to research staff at investment banks and their hedge fund counrterparts.
According to the results of the survey, an equity research analyst in a hedge fund with less than five years of experience earns an average of £218k ($264k), while an associate at a bank with a similar amount of experience can expect to earn around £133k.
Bases salaries are similar with bonuses accounting for most of the difference – an average of 113% of base for hedge fund researchers and 38% for investment bank staff. And the bonus gap only widens with seniority, with researchers at hedge funds averaging 215% of base after six years, whereas bank bonuses top out at around 48%, leaving hedge fund researchers earning as much as three times more than an investment bank (£481k v £154k).
