Investment firms like Citadel, Two Sigma, and DE Shaw are well known for offering lucrative salaries and sign-on bonuses to recruit top talent. As quantitative trading and investment management grows increasingly complex and competitive, these firms aim to attract PhDs and engineers with specialized skills by providing compensation packages at the highest end of the industry.
Base salaries starting from $200k for new grads
As a benchmark, we can look at reported base salaries for new grad hires at these elite investment firms. Entry-level research roles often start at around $200k base salary fresh out of a PhD program. More experienced hires could see base salaries up to $300-400k.
Sign-on bonuses adding $300k or more
On top of generous base pays, new hires at firms like DE Shaw and Citadel often receive signing bonuses from $300-500k or higher. Together with salary and annual performance bonuses, first year all-in compensation can exceed $500-600k.
Top performers earn $millions in comp
For top performers and fund managers at multi-strategy hedge funds like Citadel, total compensation can reach multi-million dollar levels. Portfolio managers successfully running hundred million dollar books stand to take a significant share of the profits.
Fierce competition for talent pushes comp higher
As the battle for quant talent intensifies, firms attempt to poach from each other as well as tech companies by offering ever more tempting compensation packages. This dynamic continues to push industry pay higher across the board.
Investment firms like Citadel and DE Shaw pay top dollar to recruit specialized talent, with new grad offers including base salaries of $200k+ and sign-on bonuses over $300k. Together with performance pay, all-in first year comp can exceed $500k for entry level roles.