Your first bonus will be smaller than the number everyone quotes you. Not because you underperformed — because you only worked half a bonus year.
Investment banking analyst pay at a large bank is built the same way everywhere: a fixed base salary plus a discretionary year-end bonus that has historically landed somewhere between roughly half of base and all of it. The actual dollar figures get repriced every year or two and swing hard by bank and city, so look up current street comp rather than trusting any number you read. Whatever the headline is, the amount you see in your first twelve months is usually a lot smaller — and the reason is structural, not personal.
— Educational, not financial advice.