PJT Partners has highest compensation for first year analyst

PJT Partners founder Paul Taubman.Vimeo/ Youth INC

• PJT Partners offers first-year analysts the highest salary of any bank on Wall Street, according to a new report by job-search site Wall Street Oasis.
• Investment bankers just a year out of college are paid on average $170,000 including salary and bonus at the firm, which was started by former Morgan Stanley banker Paul Taubman.

Investment banking is renowned for generously compensating its employees, in return for grueling hours and often tedious work. 

But the firm that pays young graduates the most isn’t necessarily a household name, like Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan. In fact, it’s a smaller firm called PJT Partners, which last year paid its first-year analysts $170,000 on average including base salary and bonus, according to a new report on compensation in investment banks by Wall Street Oasis, an online community for financial professionals.

That compares to $127,000 for the average first-year analyst working for a major bank in 2017, the report found. To put that in perspective, the average annual income for American workers is $44,564 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A newly released report by Wall Street Oasis shows the 1st year analyst working for a major bank earns on average $127,000 per year.(Screenshot: Wall Street Oasis)

A spokesman for PJT Partners declined to comment on the report. 

PJT Partners has been in the headlines before because of its generous compensation. Its CEO Paul J. Taubman was reportedly the highest paid executive on Wall Street in 2015.

The firm, founded by former Morgan Stanley banker Taubman, went public in 2015. PJT’s share price, which has jumped roughly 46% over the last 12 months, advises companies on a range of issues including mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, and capital raising.

In August, PJT said it would acquire CamberView Partners, a firm which focuses on providing activism defense to companies. 

Boutique firms like PJT, which are usually founded by senior dealmakers from large investment banks, have grabbed market share from big banks over the last several years. 

See also: