Salary Information for Bankers
Career News November 13, 2013Starting a career as a junior banker in retail will net you a comfortable mid-range income of $28,000 to $40,000 a year. How large the bank is, or where it is located, makes very little difference, as the top banks offer a beginning salary of only a few thousand dollars more than a small regional or supermarket bank. For those with mortgage loan expertise, the beginning salary is somewhat higher; from $32,000 to $43,500 a year.
What Qualifies a Bank Manager?
A few years experience and a bachelor’s degree in finance or a related field, however, can make a tremendous difference. Bank managers have a great deal of responsibility, including making hiring decisions, supervising employees, preparing financial statements, facilitating compliance requirements, planning, expansion and acquisitions. Along with these responsibilities comes a much higher expectancy in salary. The median range for bank managers is $132,220 a year. The top ten percent earn $187,000 a year, while the lowest paid bank managers take home $58,120.
Becoming a bank manager requires a great deal of expertise. A growing number of banks require their managers to undertake financial industry certification, such as becoming a Chartered Financial Assistant (CFA). Nearly all bank managers must earn five or more years of banking experience. Bank manager jobs are one of the slowest growing careers, with an expected increase in employment demand, not exceeding more than nine percent by the year 2020.
Mortgage loan officers are generally paid on a commission basis. In this competitive field, it can be a long time between commissions, sometimes requiring draws against their commission basis, to offset periods between payment. Officers who routinely require draws may eventually be dismissed. For this reason, there is a high turn-over rate of mortgage loan officers. For an industrious loan officer who sets a portion aside of the commission for difficult times, the job can become lucrative for the average loan officer who works diligently, expecting to earn an average of $42,000 a year.
Along with having the greatest amount of responsibilities, investment bankers also can expect to have some of the biggest paychecks. Starting salaries for a junior investment banker average around $100,000 to $150,000, after bonuses. Most major banks offer a beginning salary of $75,000, plus a $15,000 -$20,000 bonus upon signing with the bank. High performance junior investment bankers can receive up to $40,000 in bonuses.
Degrees worth Earning
Investment bankers with a Masters in Business Administration can expect to take an associate’s position with salaries ranging from $120,000 to $220,000 a year. Although some firms pay less at the entry level position, the quality of experience can make it worth accepting for your future portfolio. A third year analyst can earn as high as $350,000 a year and a third year financial associate, $500,000 a year.
Although investment bankers earn top salaries, their hours are long and difficult. Retail bankers generally work a forty-hour week, although an investment banker may work 90-110 hours a week in the first year, with very little time left for vacations.
The top paying banking positions in investment banking is the vice president, director, managing director/partner and department head. Vice Presidents earn between $250,000 to one million dollars and require three to six years of experience. Directors earn between $400,000 to $1.5 million and require 5-10 years of experience.
Managing directors can earn anywhere between $500,000 to $20 million and require 7 -10 years of experience. You need an excess of ten years experience to make Department Head, but the pay scale is between $800,000 to $70 million. This is a career worth targeting for the business-minded professional with determination.
