Since we're comparing quants to bankers, I'm assuming we are talking about quants who work at bulge bracket banks, and investment bankers (I'll assume we include salespeople and traders here) who work at bulge bracket banks. At investment banks, quants support people who generate revenue, and investment bankers are the people who generate the revenue. People who generate revenue will always get paid more than people who support them, on a like-for-like seniority basis. A quant will receive a bonus, but it will generally be less (and could be quite substantially less) than a banker of equal seniority within the same business line.