110k is not a good deal especially if they want him to relocate. Bonus is on the low side as well. Either it's Bear/Merrill hiring or your bro had average grades in school, something is keeping the comp down. Then again, did you read about trader who shitted on the floor because he didn't get a bonus this year. Dude probably made them money this year.
What's keeping his comp down is no prior financial experience if he came from another IB they would have shelled out more coin. He can make substantially more if he decides to stay ~3 years or leave after 2 years to another IB. If he wants a career in finance his offer isnt that bad for someone with 0 financial experience. My guess is they brought him in at an analyst/associate level which is the lowest level for IT engineers at most IB's. VP level which is pretty much everyone after 5 years can make $155/base + 60k bonus which isnt bad for a 0 risk job at most top firms Lehman/GS/MS. Best of luck.
I used to do mixed-signal / analog IC design. It keeps your brain sharp, but is boring as friggin' hell. The pay to work amount ratio isn't that great either. Engineering is basically a dead-end road for Americans. Without being racist, it's a good job for educated chinese engineers that don't speak english very well and love to stick with the herd. But if your bro wants to grow and has that entrepreneurial fire, definitely go to the investment bank. RT