These are the 18 highest-paying jobs in London’s finance sector
If you're thinking of moving into the finance sector, chances are the salary is going to be one of your main reasons.
But which roles offer the megabucks? Salary benchmarking site Emolument.com has crunched the numbers – and found that with an average salary of £178,000 and a bonus almost as high, at £148,000, bankers in mergers and acquisitions who have made it to director level are out-earning all their peers (although that's before the effect of Brexit is factored in…).
Meanwhile, if you're a trader at a bank, you can expect to make more than quarter of a million pounds a year, with a salary of just over £160,000, while your bonus should come in at £120,000.
| Salary | Bonus | Total | |
| M&A | £178,000 | £148,000 | £326,000 |
| Bank Trader | £161,000 | £120,000 | £281,000 |
| Origination & Syndication | £175,000 | £105,000 | £280,000 |
| Structuring | £153,000 | £103,000 | £256,000 |
| Institutional Sales (Banking) | £150,000 | £100,000 | £250,000 |
| Asset Gathering/Fundraising | £120,000 | £110,000 | £230,000 |
| Private Equity LBO | £123,000 | £102,000 | £225,000 |
| Fund Management | £124,000 | £100,000 | £224,000 |
| Venture Capital Investment | £130,000 | £60,000 | £190,000 |
| Research (Banking) | £112,000 | £75,000 | £187,000 |
| Relationship Management (Banking) | £139,000 | £39,000 | £178,000 |
| Portfolio Management | £120,000 | £43,000 | £163,000 |
| Product Specialist | £105,000 | £55,000 | £160,000 |
| Product Development & Marketing | £100,000 | £60,000 | £160,000 |
| Relationship Management (Buy-Side) | £105,000 | £42,000 | £147,000 |
| Risk | £110,000 | £24,000 | £134,000 |
| Ratings Agency Research Analyst | £111,000 | £22,000 | £133,000 |
| Middle & Back Office Generalist | £88,000 | £16,000 | £104,000 |
When you break the figures down by sector, with pay packets worth £260,000, those in investment banking earn 30 per cent more than buy-side directors, who can expect a mere £195,000 including bonus, and almost twice as much as those who work for ratings agencies, who are rewarded with a relatively paltry £133,000. The heart bleeds.
Read more: This is how much more you'd earn if you jumped ship
"While remuneration in banking, is not what it used to be, it remains the highest paying sector," pointed out Alice Leguay, Emolument.com's co-founder.
"Senior bankers who have been accustomed to a plush standard of living through a career of earning sky-high bonuses are often trapped in the industry, both burning through their revenue to cover household costs, and not making the fortunes they were aiming for 10 years ago.
"The levelling of earnings between banking and buy-side activities for juniors allows them a broader scope when it comes to picking a career path, less defined by the hope of making a push towards the banking bonanza, but rather the added value a job in private equity, venture capital or other key roles in the industry may bring."
So good news. Sort of…