All,I am currently a VP in IB and thinking of moving into MC (too many acronyms!) One possibility will be advisory Risk Mgt services within the big 4 audit firms (KPMG, Deloitte, PWC, E&Y). I have over 10 years experience in Risk Mgt, Trading and Prj Mgt. I have good academics too (MBA and 1st class hons). I have spoken to a number of recruiters, but they all seem to say that any basic over GBP80k (with bonuses of circa 10-20%) mean these firms expect you to have contacts in order to generate new deals. Indeed, with this remuneration and above, the emphasis would be on such selling, rather than delivery of other client services. Is this view correct? It strikes me as quite low, if they expect experienced IB'ers to make the move over to MC.... Thanks in advance. Anon1.

anon 1. You are making a mistake in your reasoning. Risk management in the Audit practice of the Big 4 is NOT management consulting - it is financial services. In financial services, the salary youmentioned is correct - as the industry does not pay a lot. If you want to make serious cash - you must go into the Consulting divisions of the big 4, or the top strategy firms (Mck, Bain, BCG etc)In these firms you can earn up to 250k plus bonus before making partner - where salaries can go up to several million. You should look at risk within corporate finance at mckinsey, bcg, EY BAS - NOT within their audit practices. Let me know if this makes any sense. PS. your recruiters are rubbish if they are sending you to audit. Were you in a tier 1 IB?

Anon1 - Would you be interested in PA Consulting? Take a look at our work via our website. If you are interested get back to me on this forum and I shall try to touch base. We are heavily focused on risk mgt and we're really growing our practise.

Thankyou George and PA'er for your responses.George - I currently work for a v.large US tier 1, though have also worked at 'lesser' banks. I was under the impression the views did relate to the consulting divisions of the 4 firms I mentioned, rather than their audit practices. So to confirm, in your view, the remuneration is therefore incorrect for these divisions?I agree it is different wrt the strategy firms you mentioned, and even some of the others such as Bearing Point, M&A Partners etc too. That was why I thought it odd about E&Y, KPMG, PWC & Deloittes.PA'er - Thanks, I'll have a look at the website. If you could also kindly explain where PA fits between the other firms mentioned, that'd be most helpful too? I'm afraid I thought they were a technology consultancy.... sorry if I have this wrong.Regards,Anon1.

KPMG and PWC dont do ( seriously ) consulting. EY BAS ( business advisory services) and Deloitte are serioous and in the game. MC is different from IB. It generally follows: analysts and consultants : the 'doers'managers and senior managers: 'the managers'directors and partners: 'the sellers'... so yes at higher ends of the ladder your pay is commenusrate with how much you sell. I suggest you get in touch with EY BAS - they are recruiting heavily now and pay above market for best candidates

Anon1 - We work across a wide spectrum of industries namely energy( we bought hagler bailey energy consultancy in the states), Strategy, Life Scienes, IT, Financial Services and so on. In FS we are focusing primarily on middle to back office engagements as these are our strengths. However we have and do incooperate high level strategy. Infact most of our projects initial require strategy in order for us to implement

Do you think consulting pay ever catches up with IB's? For example, i'm starting on about £32k in MC but a friend in IB is starting on £60k (UBS).. But if you make partner at Deloitte you get about £700k which seems to start to compare with pay in IB after roughly same number of years?

Dear PAer ,could you please look at my thread under the number 18621 -desperate wife trying to understand her It husband please,and try to help me if you can.PLEASE

Some random thoughts (it's almost 11pm where I'm at, and I still haven't had my daily ration of Remy XO):- IB VP = MC Sr. Associate or Manager. IB Director = MC Principal. IB Managing Director = MC Partner. - 80k (US$ or GBP) is extremely low for someone who is expected to generate revenue. Anyway, since only MC Partners are expected to generate revenue, I think Anon1 was fed wrong info by his recruiter, as he is not yet Partner caliber.- As George said, Risk Mgt is not MC. Maybe the pay scales are lower for Risk Mgt?- IB VPs at top tier firms on average (there are always exceptions) make ~$300k in the US. A comparable MC Sr. Assoc or Manager at a top-tier strat house would make ~$140-180k max. - If you do get hired as a MC Principal, you can indeed make $200-300k. - On average, MC Partners at top-tier strat houses get paid $500k base, plus another $500k to $1mm bonus depending on how much business they bring in. So even high-flying MC Partners are hard pressed to make over $3-5mm. High-flying IB MDs, on the other hand, have practically no limit to their incomes. - Someone else would have to share insight on Big 4 pay scales.