What Do Investment Bank Traders Really Get Paid? 

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Every student in this room is rethinking their career choice right about now.

"I consider a business card what you put in the ATM" This guy is a beast

I love his "no bullshit" attitude.

I think most people who criticize his definition of a "basic" life in Central London are missing the point. He's trying to clarify that while 8.3k a month and 50k bonus is comfortable, it's nowhere near enough to live like Jordan Belfort in Wolf of Wall Street, which is precisely what most people think happens on Wall Street. You're still going to be eating out only a couple nights a week. You're still going to be renting a 700sf apartment. You're still not buying sports cars, and if you do, you won't get the chance to drive it. Most bankers live simple lives. The outliers who misbehave get fired for gross misconduct or washed out. Only once in a couple decades do you get Leo DiCaprio to play out your life on the big screen.

This is actually fucking hilarious you could hear the students souls leave their body.

moral of the story... not worth it. Farming never looked better.

"If you are going to give up the best days of your life i.e. the 20s, waking up in a dark and coming back in a dark. Working 14 hours per day staring at the algorithm on the computer desk, you should know how much you are getting compensated for that." - Anton Kreil

If you don't work for yourself, you'll always live on someone else's terms.

This guy is loving destroying people’s dreams !! 😂

Dude, I felt my dreams get crushed listening to this guy and I never even wanted to work in finance lol

Moral of this story: Comfortable and basic lifestyles are subjective terms.

The take away for me was Well you could but you’d live a basic life.

I watched this in 2020 in the middle of my Finance degree and completely changed my perception on the industry. I now work in Fintech and make ~$80k in my entry level, never work past 6 and have great growth prospects. I hope more people see this and realise there's other paths to work in finance that can be just as lucrative without the modern slavery part

Companies have quotas on Managing Directors, similar to how the military has quotas on Generals. No one moves up the ladder until one already on the ladder leaves.

hes really getting a kick out of this and who wouldnt

Man, those bags don't lie

Go to school... they said Get good grades... they said Go to university... they said Go work for a bank... they said Get a safe and secure job... they said Work hard... they said Save up money... they said That's risky... they said Buy a house... they said MY LIFE IS A LIE!

He crushed it. I'm glad I didn't go to IB even though I was offered to go right after my engineering degree completion. I became a structural engineer instead and I thought I was getting peanuts compared to IB guys. BUT, I work 37.5hrs a week. I choose to work on contracts as they pay better. 45/hr typically. Work from anywhere you want, show up occasionally at the office. Get paid about 8k/month gross on contract and do little side jobs, add 1.5-2k typically. So say 9.5k a month. The thing is, I run ltd so I'm able to throw in many expenses into accounting. Smart accountant is important. I end up paying about 5k in taxes at the end of the year. So in theory, I make more than IB, I work less than IB, and I have the choice of working anywhere closer to London but definitely not close to central London because that would kill all of it. I managed to find a gf while doing that (now wife) and started a family. I enjoy spending time with my daughter. I still think IBs make more than he says, otherwise who would sacrifice to work that many hours?

£175k in central London a basic life?! Is this guy washing his hands in Moët

This video should have been screened to all senior students in all universities. Because this is accurate for all majors

This guy always looks sleep deprived lol

People and the media have confused investment banking with private equity. IB is incredibly unsexy, filled with long hours and basic takes such as powerpoint creation. PE is slow but the cash is far and above better when you hit it big.

Some say he still hasn’t slept since his contract started

2008 killed IB. Tech is where the money is now.

I wish there was a lecture like this required by law in every university before students have paid their first tuition fee...wouldn't that be great! That would actually make so many people's lives better. I wish I were given "no bullshit" information at the beginning of my program. I would've never chosen to study that field, but I was cheated like everyone else by a system that is held accountable to absolutely nobody anywhere in the world. Universities in this age are businesses and not concerned with the wellbeing of students or the future of the society. I only see parents nowadays as the last line of defense against these predatory institutions; and the majority of parents are failing to advise their children properly. Filling a child with false hope is as destructive as giving him no hope!

Let's start a charity for these poor bankers not able to get a good meal everyday.

"I have to go return some video tapes ".

Clearly you are not selling dream here. Good work. Honestly is still the best policy

The amount of times he says "you'll live a basic life" really hits home 🤦🏼‍♂️

It's like starting out as a YTS in the Conference South Football league on 100 quid a week, but where you really want to be is the Premiership on 100K a week. But like Anton says the probability of getting there gives you a P number of

Back in the day all my cousins who went to top unis made fun of my cousin who immigrated here at a young age and decided to drop out of secondary and work. The drop out worked hard and didn’t compare himself to no one. His boss died and gave him 100% ownership of his business which I cant disclose. He is 33 with over 3 million in the bank. The uni grads are working but they live an average life. Life has no plan. You literally cannot predict what your future will be.

As I watch this video, I know one thing I will never live in central London and UK tax rates are ridiculous.

Cor bet he’s fun at parties

The younger generation kept talking about the eye instead of focusing on the message .... This guy has lived the life

I would rather work in a bank working 70+ hrs than a min wage job

£50k is way more than enough as a young person in central London. Flatsharing is one of the best bits about being your 20s, and a reeaally nice (for 20-something standards) one in Zone 1 would be no more than £1500pppm. You'd have enough left over for hols, going out, nice food and savings. If you have a good group of friends and enjoy your job, you can live happily in London for a hell of a lot less than an investment banker. That said, if you surround yourself with big spenders and are desperate to keep up with their lifestyle it's a different story.

Ok hear me out tax is theft

Always look at it by pay per hours worked. You can get paid 120k a year but if you’re working 80 hour work weeks you’re doing just as well as 60k a year with normal work weeks. Actually worse since 120k puts you in a higher tax bracket and you’re sacrificing social life and leisure for every hour you work over 40/week.

I live in Hong Kong and am among the 3% most well paid employees in the city. Our effective income tax rate is just around 15%. Not too bad right? Yet, i still live a very basic life because property price in Hong Kong is crazily high. I paid USD1m for a 320sqft apartment near central of the city (for the reasons explained by Anton). Mortgage payment eats up a big part of my income. So despite of the low tax rate comparing to US and UK, i see no advantage on our disposable income. Having a decent job is always nice. But you need much more than that to earn a comfortable life.

Do not agree that it’s impossible to live in the city on 40k a year. No-one actually lives in the city of London. Majority of young professionals in all industries live in Zone 2 bear tube lines and train stations. I can make it into the city in 20 minutes from my Zone 2 flat. Depends entirely also on your lifestyle. If you are a member at the NED, you eat in the Dorchester, and go to Mayfair clubs every Friday and live the true trader London lifestyle then yeah even 100k a year wouldn’t cut it. But a lot of young professionals in the city or London in general don’t do that. Point is you absolutely can like on 40k a year in London.

Working for 40-50k for 2 years isn’t that bad. I mean in most jobs you don’t earn a lot in the beginning. As an Associate you earn pretty good already. And in just 5 more years you are Executive Director with a very good salary. So if everything goes well you are on a 200k salary + bonuses with 30. And here you have the possibility to get even more promotions. I don’t see the salary as a problem, because you will still earn a lot more then the average. The bigger Problem is probably the Work-Life-Balance.

I would love to see the breakdown for politicians. So many public servants that become millionaires whilst in office, it's rather amazing..

The information is good but he shouldn't keep banging on about living a basic life. You can live in central london even at £25k a year, just basic. But at £40k-200k, it's definitely not basic. The only thing worth noting about being a trader is the hours you work. If you are working 70 hours a week earning £200k a year, it's the same as someone working the standard 40 hours a week earning £100k a year in terms of your hourly wage. Compared to most people, you are losing 30 hours a week for a good number of years of your life, if that's worth it to you.

Moral of the story: don't do investment banking as a financial analyst. Work somewhere else. Try to do a top MBA and then get in as associate

Wish he had touched on the wild hours especially for analysts/associates. Also, I think he should have addressed that a lot of junior level bankers go to a PE or VC fund after a few years.

Some 2 beds in the new high rises in Canary Wharf go for less than £3k/month (with onsite cinemas!), £8,3K/month is certainly not a "basic" life.

Damn this guy is good, this should be shared with other undergrads. Very informative and surprising!

Thank you for posting this video it really puts things into perspective 10,000 qualified people for each vacancy

"The perception of what people get paid and what ends up in their pockets is totally misguided" totally true. I am in computer sciences and when i was studying for me 40k€ (gross )was big and today when i earning it it is nothing.. the rent of the appart is half my net salary...

Yep, these talks inspired me to pursue my own business . Control my hours and effort .

This guy's definition of a basic life and my definition of a basic life are quite different

First off, if you really care about money, go to Hong Kong/Singapore. Secondly, investment banking is still incredibly prestigious in terms of exit opportunities, and will give you better chance to be successful in life. A 2-year analyst program at a BB will benefit you more than any possible job you can think of upon graduation. After that, so many doors will be open to you it's ridiculous. Source: first-hand experience and observing the life trajectory of peers.

gross starting salary is 50-55k now excluding bonus , although everything here may still apply considering cost of living/rent changes

I think that working for a few years in an IB isn't to bad because you'll make connections and learn a lot about how the industry and basically the world works. That information is invaluable when trading stocks and if you're planning to start your own business. The main problem with these jobs is where you have to live. The long hours means you need to live in the CBD, whereas if you lived even 15 mins away from the CBD the rent and house prices drop significantly, which makes life so much easier. I really think the bands should partner with some of the real estate companies to get rents for bankers (year 1-6) reduced, assuring that the apartments will always have someone renting it.

I earned £17k a year as a first year legal trainee in Edinburgh in the mid 00s (a fair bit higher than the Law Society recommended minimum at the time). Edinburgh is actually more expensive than London on wages to cost of living ratio. I was taking home just over £1,000 net a month. I lived with friends in a share flat. I definitely wasn’t living it large but it actually seemed like a lot of money after being a broke student for 5 years! Maybe the most elite graduates expect to walk into a high paying entry level job but the rest of us are lucky just to find a graduate position and grind it out for a few years.

I glad I stuck with the plumbing now!

I just clicked because looking from my RU-vid homepage, he looked like the real-life version of Gordon Gekko.

Wow. And there was I, jealous of the haves and me being the have not. All I can do is thank this gentleman for explaining the miserable life of the ' wannabe '.

A big challenge for most people is they enter into an industry when it's past it's boom stage (and only enter into it because of the presumed riches). As Anton mentions, they follow the press and then the graduating cohorts enter into a high profile industry en mass: a manifestation of herd mentality. It's much harder to follow your interest (or to actually have one) that most people don't pay attention to. It turns out that is a better bet.

20, 30, 40 interviews? That‘s a joke😂 they might do 4-6 interviews

In all honesty, leave the salary, a job in trading is 100 times more intellectually stimulating and interesting than some bs desk job. Instead of asking people how their day was in morning meetings and trying to take 2 weeks to fix an issue just to have your manager say it’s useless, a trader gains knowledge of how the world really works which to be honest is priceless. And of course it also teaches you risk taking etc which would be vital if one wants to grow money in their personal lives.

50k in central, not that bad. 1k a month for a nice flatshare. 2k spending.

He also forgot that the enourmous student loan will drain even more of your salary.

I’m a financial analyst in the US, going on my 3rd year and I’m at 60k...

I was lucky enough that mentor once told me... The flashy, fancy jobs very often don’t pay as much as people think they do. But because they’re trendy and you can tell your mates “I’m a trader”. It’s often the boring jobs no one wants that’ll pay better.

Rent/mortgage, food, car insurance, cellphone bill, cable bill, internet bill, clothing, electricity, water, entertainment... and after you pay your taxes on what you made, you pay MORE taxes on almost everything in that list. Every time money moves from Here (government) to There, the Government is in the middle skimming something off. So what, really, is anybody's REAL tax burden? 60%? More?

This is why you have to be an owner, really hard to get rich as a worker you have to own stock or shares a piece of the pie. You can also earn less in your business but keep far more of you money and you can eventually outsource the work. School drills it in and makes the most intelligent people who want money chase high pay income jobs- Finance , Consulting, Tech and Law just to give their life to it and get beaten in wealth by a guy who failed school but owns a jam making store 🤣

Ha ha “the probability of you getting there is 0” you could hear the their hearts sink.

I think what he is saying is true. Ive seen for myself what financial analysts get. I have spoken to one who has about 6 or 7 years in the industry and surprised he still has to plan hard and compromise on a few things.

Thank you for this free lecture/seminar. Way ahead of time.

so why do investment bankers act all high if they get paid so much less no wonder they mostly use trains in New york, I was wondering why do my friends not drive but are always going out for dinner😬

I’ve always regretted not selling my soul to the financial industry 17 years ago. Not anymore 😂 I earn way less (And I live in central London!) but I’m not in a flashy industry and do not need expensive things to keep up with the Jones > and I have enjoyed my career in the past 17 years with good work life balance. Thank for this video!

This hit me harder than the interstellar scene

There's an eye opener! I'm a Train Driver and my p60 says last yr 70k. 35hrs per week, 32days holiday, free travel, private pension and my office is the countryside. Didn't realise how lucky I am tbh

Obsess over listening to the truth! Thanks for uploading this video

You don’t go into IB for the first two or three years, you go for it for the big bucks later on

“And what are you doing this Friday after work?” “Oh.... dinner, followed by some TV, followed by...uhhh...suicide I guess.”

Its kinda same in almost every job

Majority of people live in the suburbs and commute in so of cour 8k is liveable!

That was a very sobering analysis for anybody who uses the term "Wall Street Bankers" in the pejorative.

Damn.. I'll just smoke a j instead. Hard pass

It doesn't matter what it’s called; if the Government takes it, it’s a tax. 💯

All the dislikes because they can't handle a reality check

Great video. Sobering too.

Only way you can get in london at 6 is to beat the traffic. You go to work at 4am. Who wants to get up at 4am, I used to get to job in london 5am out 1pm. Job done. Everyone else is already too late. Those who are late wont get out of london until 6-7pm,. PERIOD. Well done anton 100% correct.

4:56 It's as if these interviews aren't even concerned about the merits of candidates, but rather indoctrinating a false sense of exclusivity and a prosperity. The result is favorable for the IB's as they get a discount army of industriously compliant servants. Reminds me of the a famous proverb, "If hard work paid off than donkeys would be covered in gold."

This is moment when many female students in the room start to consider marriage to a wealthy guy a not so bad alternative

I have a trading internship interview coming up with JPM and this guy already took my all excitement lol Reality checkkk

This guy is right to make mockery of working and living in central London. The salary/standard of living combo is a joke, I admire the city, but only as a guest from time to time.

Someone tell him conversation on Mobile can also be recorded

Don’t know what type of life he expects people to live. 100k is more than enough to live comfortably in central London. Even if you don’t house share.

Better trading than working in the trade ! This is how the pay scales should be analyzed !!

So what's the end game here? What he just referred to isn't the way to go so what should we do?

i think i will just stick to daytrading and not have to worry about commuting.

This guy is the ultimate reality check

I love Anton but these numbers look really spurious. I think these analyst numbers include middle and back office. I work in a US bank in London and even the operations grads get £40k basic....

Mate has not slept in years.

I just Googled average wage in central London, which makes me an expert, that it's 33k. Felt so motivated after listening to this chirpy chap

Interesting - I blew my interview with an investment bank as I was severely hungover and fell asleep while waiting to be called in. Maybe a lucky escape.