Wells Fargo is raising comp for junior investment bankers, bringing starting salary in line with the $100,000 industry norm for first-year analysts

• Wells Fargo is raising base compensation for CIB analysts and associates, Insider has learned.
• First-, second-, and third-year analysts will earn $100,000, $105,000, and $110,000 in base pay, respectively.
• First-, second-, and third-year associates will earn $175,000, $200,000, and $225,000 in base pay, respectively.

Wells Fargo has become the latest Wall Street bank to raise base compensation for its junior bankers, Insider has learned, following Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase.

America’s third-largest bank by assets will raise base comp for analysts and associates in its corporate and investment bank, a Wells Fargo spokesperson confirmed to Insider.

“We can confirm the adjustment of base pay in certain client-facing positions across the Corporate and Investment Bank, which ensures we remain competitive and aligned with market practices. We are committed to offering compensation that attracts, motivates, and retains talent,” the spokesperson said.

First-year analysts in Wells Fargo’s CIB division will see base comp bumped to $100,000, according to numbers first shared by financial meme account Litquidity.

Second-year analysts will earn $105,000, and third-years will earn $110,000 pre-bonus, the account posted.

The raises are in the amount of $15,000. Previously, first-, second-, and third-year analysts at the bank earned $85,000, $90,000, and $95,000, respectively, according to a source familiar with the situation who requested not to be identified discussing company matters.

Wells Fargo associates are also getting pay bumps, per Litquidity. First, second, and third-year associate base pay will be bumped to $175,000, $200,000, and $225,000, respectively.

These raises are retroactive to July 1st.

Wells Fargo offered analysts and associates special bonsues up to $20,000 in April, Insider reported.

In July, Wells Fargo’s corporate- and investment-banking division reported $1.23 billion in revenue in its second-quarter earnings, down 18% from $1.31 billion in the same quarter last year.

In its earnings report, the bank said that “lower debt capital markets revenue, the impact of lower interest rates, and lower deposit balances” due to its restrictive asset cap were responsible for driving the reduced revenue performance.

Wells Fargo Securities ranks 14th by IPO revenue in the US and does not rank in the top-20 highest revenue producers by M&A, according to Dealogic data.

Wells Fargo follows Goldman, JPMorgan, and other competitors

Wells Fargo’s decision to increase salary follows the likes of other large investment banks and reflects that the $100,000 first-year analyst starting salary has rapidly become the industry standard, following pay bumps to that amount by JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup in June.

However, some banks have increased first-year analyst salary beyond $100,000. Goldman Sachs increased first-year analyst comp to “at least $110,000,” Bloomberg reported. Insider first reported that the firm also set second-year analyst salary at $125,000, and first-year associate salary at $150,000.

High levels of junior-banker attrition, burnout, and a tight labor market have conspired to increase the pressure that banks have felt in recent months, while deal volumes remain sky-high.

Morgan Stanley raised salary for first- and second-year investment-banking and global-capital-markets analysts up to $100,000 and $105,000 respectively, Insider first reported.

Separately, Bank of America announced $10,000 raises for analysts and $25,000 raises for associates and VPs, Insider reported in April. A number of other banks, ranging from Barclays to Guggenheim Securities, have also bumped comp.

Check out our full rundown of the investment banks that have increased junior bankers’ paydays this year.

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