If there's one thing the financial industry is known for, it's luxurious salary packages. If there are two things the financial industry is known for, it's pay packages and grueling work hours.
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However, the 2024 salary and bonus report reveals exactly who is working the most hours. Our report is based on her 6,000 responses received in a survey conducted earlier this year. We asked financial services professionals from every corner of the industry, every corner of the world, and at every seniority level.
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Not surprisingly, respondents in investment banking (which includes M&A and capital markets) worked the longest hours in the industry.
While M&A's 67-hour work week was significantly lower than the 100-hour work week that is said to have occurred during the pandemic, it was still significantly higher than the work hours in other parts of the bank. On an hourly basis, the highest paid investment bankers in 2023 were in equity capital markets and had total compensation (salary and bonuses) of $120.
On an hourly basis, most sales and trading professionals will earn significantly more than bankers in 2023. For example, credit sales and trading professionals earn an average hourly wage of $147. Commodities and macro experts earned $170 and $180 per hour, respectively.
Hedge funds had the highest hourly compensation, and hedge funds also had the highest full-stop compensation. Hedge fund professionals earned nearly twice the hourly rate of private equity fund professionals.
After a difficult year for M&A bankers, their hourly wages are lower than other jobs. A 2023 study suggests that an equity researcher was paid more per hour than his M&A banker.
M&A bankers are complaining as hourly wages decline. “Given the working hours and the complexity of the mission, we need higher compensation,'' said an M&A manager at Evercore in the US.
Another employee at Deutsche Bank in London lamented that his bonus was “lower than last year” despite “more responsibility” and “better” team performance. Aside from important revenue-generating roles in sales and trading, M&A, and equity and debt capital markets, financial services work weeks are less demanding, ranging from 43 to 48 hours. Hourly compensation will be correspondingly lower. Operations specialists earn $79 per hour. Finance jobs (including auditing and accounting) earn an average of $101.
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