Need advice- I am a Partner at MBB. I have been a Partner for 3 years, just starting my 4th year. I feel my compensation is very low compared to the fees I generate. ( around 4/5% of total sales I do independently). My current firm network, sponsorship and profile is really good. Should I plan to switch to another firm or wait out while the comp adjusts?

Three years in and comp less than a million with those numbers is pretty rough

That said - if you play the long game and keep putting up those numbers the 15-20 year total is going to be very good

Smaller firms often pay a higher commission rate on sales but at McKinsey if you make senior partner you get the benefit of all the more junior partners under you getting 5%….

My advice is to stay and your comp will go up considerably as you get closer to Sr. Partner level - regardless of whether it's a formal title and recognition.

We often underestimate the value of our email address (and everything that comes with being associated with a large, well-recognized name) and overestimate our own role in our success. Among many I've seen lateral, very few have replicated a similar level of commercial success. You may be an exception - you will know this best yourself.

Agree - my question is how much are you “executing” vs “generating”

OP defo at McK. We have been delaying bonuses for 3 years now…

If you are truly generating all those fees on your own, then you need to be marching into your bosses office.

A&M would pay you about 25% of what you truly generate and run

What’s the split between people buying you v. the McKinsey brand? Got it? And then cut your half by 50% and then decide if you should shop around.

MBB senior partners are definitely preying on economics of junior partners (esp. as a lot Senior Partners are unproductive on internal roles etc.) that being said level of unwanted attrition of junior partners is very low so why would they change behavior and give away more economics…

What is your TC?

4/5 %???

You're being taken for a ride if they're not giving you any equity

Something doesn’t compute here. If you’re an MBB partner (not a PINO), your comp is more than $1M (at a minimum). It’s impossible to believe you’re solely responsible for “selling” $20-25M of work at BCG (or Bain). What are we missing so we can be helpful in helping your next move?

So in a given year I would close between 15-25 Mn of sales and my comp is less than 1Mn USD. The real question for me is if I leave to another place and let’s say I take a 50% haircut on above sales numbers, would I still get above comp? Is it worth taking the risk? Or should i continue on auto pilot mode and the comp will catch up in 4/5 years ?

The business you originate is a function of the ability to deliver and that ability is created by the firm, not by you alone.

As a P&D at BCG, I periodically considered approaches from other consulting firms, including the other 2 MBBs. I ultimately always concluded that the execution risk and switching costs of a move (rebuilding internal network, hiatus in external relationships due to non-compete & gardening leave provisions etc) substantially outweighed the potential benefits. In particular I observed the huge significance in MBB careers success of building your constellation of trusted internal colleagues. Is the grass really greener (or redder or bluer :-) ??

You’ll note that lateral moves at partner level between MBBs are relatively rare and typically only happen when there are distinctive particular individual circumstances (eg major personal fallout with sponsor, change of firm strategy in your practice area, massive over-supply or lack of required capability/commitment in the local office etc.). So most people have arrived at the same conclusion. Of course there’s some inertia and risk aversion in there too.

N.B. Given the above, interviews often assume (perhaps unfairly) that a desire to move is evidence of damaged goods eg individual performance issues, and subtly probe for evidence to the contrary. So important to have a compelling storyline.

One good thing about MBB comp is that it’s *relatively* mechanical and so you’re less vulnerable to individual discrimination than in situations where your bonus is entirely at the whim of your boss. So sticking around is likely to work well in the long term. Of course you can still suffer from individual politics in internal negotiations e.g. over revenue sharing and client access, with material career implications.

Last thought is that one of the few structural distinctions between MBBs is that I understand partner comp (and equity influence?) at McK is materially skewed in favour of the senior partners (Directors?) whereas at BCG (and Bain??) it’s one partner one vote and a more equitable share of profits. That presumably means that if you plan on being a partner for ~5-8 years before moving on / retiring you’re better off financially at BCG, whereas if you’re determined to stick around as partner for 10+ years and confident of making that final up or out step at McK, there’s significant further $ upside.