Do you want to make a name for yourself in the financial industry? Instead of limiting yourself to simple, low-paying positions, learn about the highest-paying jobs in finance and begin setting yourself up for success.
To help you weigh your options and choose which position would be the greatest fit for you, we’ve compiled a list of the top 20 financial positions with the highest salaries.
You’ll find something on this list to capture your curiosity whether you’re just starting out or have been in the field for a while. Don’t restrict yourself; continue reading to learn about the 20 financial occupations with the highest salaries.
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Are You Fit for Work in Finance?
To succeed in the highly competitive field of finance, you must be physically and mentally healthy. As a matter of fact, many businesses will only employ applicants who are in top physical condition because they want their staff to operate at the best degree of efficiency.
If you want to get hired by a top company in finance or any other field, here are some things you should know about fitness:
- Being physically fit can help you manage stress better. This means that you’ll be able to think clearly and make better decisions even when things get tough at work.
- Being fit also reduces your chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, and other health issues related to being overweight or obese.
- A healthy lifestyle can improve your immunity system and reduce your risk of getting sick while on the job.
The Highest Paying Jobs In Finance – Thought Catalog
One of the most rewarding professions is in the finance sector. While investment bankers and traders have an annual compensation of between $70,000 and $200,000, financial advisors typically make $90,000.
Millions of individuals compete for jobs each year, making it one of the fastest-growing competitive industries.
In order to obtain a position that will enable them to earn the most money possible while still enjoying their work, it is critical for anyone who wants to work in finance to know what are the highest-paying occupations in the industry.
List of the Best 20 Highest-Paying Jobs in Finance
Below are the top 20 highest-paying jobs in finance:
- Wealth Management
- Cooperate Development
- Venture Capital
- Financial Planning
- Compliance
- Quantitative Analysis
- Asset Management
- Investment Banking
- Private Equity
- Tax Advisory
- Treasury
- Finance Engineering
- Investment Banking Associate
- Hedge Fund Manager
- Risk Management
- Corporate Finance
- Investment Banking Analyst
- Commercial Banking
- Actuarial Science
- Insurance.
Top 20 Highest-Paying Jobs in Finance
1. Wealth Management
- Starting Salary: $75,000
- Average Annual Salary: $350,000
Wealth management assists people, families, and corporations in managing their financial resources. Investing, portfolio, and retirement planning are all services that wealth managers provide to their clients.
A bachelor’s degree in business, economics, or finance is required for success in this area.
Before becoming certified by the CFP Board (the body that oversees this profession) and passing its difficult exam, you should additionally have at least three years of experience working as a financial counselor.
2. Cooperate Development
- Starting Salary: $90,000
- Average Annual Salary: $200,000
Managing a company’s business growth is a component of the finance-focused job of cooperative development. High levels of inventiveness and originality are necessary, along with solid interpersonal abilities.
This job might be ideal for you if you have prior experience in copywriting or public relations. On initiatives that call for collaboration with other departments, you must be able to do so successfully.
Depending on your location and level of experience, Cooperate Development can pay you anywhere from $90k to $200k annually for your work.
3. Venture Capital
- Starting Salary: $80,000
- Average Annual Salary: $200,000
Venture capital is used to launch or expand a business. Both venture debt and private equity, which offer finance for smaller businesses, are included.
Corporations, governments, and individuals can all use venture capital to finance start-ups or small businesses.
Creating value through returns on sales earned by the company after it has been founded is often the aim of this investing activity.
4. Financial Planning
- Starting Salary: $65,000
- Average Annual Salary: $175,000
A variety of financial services are included in the broad category of financial planning. Personal, professional, and investment advice fall under this category.
5. Compliance
- Starting Salary: $60,000
- Average Annual Salary: $160,000
Making sure rules are obeyed is part of the work of compliance. A compliance officer can be in charge of keeping track of how many hours workers work each week and making sure they aren’t breaking any corporate rules or the law.
If you’re paying for your employees’ lunches, you can monitor if they’ve taken breaks during that time or even inquire if they’ve been using a personal cell phone while working. Other things you can do include checking their take-home vehicles for expired licenses.
6. Quantitative Analysis
- Starting Salary: $65,000
- Average Annual Salary: $160,000
Application of statistical and computer programming skills in support of management choices is part of the job description for quantitative analysis. This implies that you will be analyzing data and making predictions using math, statistics, and computer programming.
The skills required are similar across all jobs in this field:
- Proficiency with computers
- A strong understanding of probability theory
- An ability to work independently as well as within teams
- willingness to learn new things quickly.
For entry-level work in this industry, a bachelor’s degree in engineering or mathematics is typically required, although it might not be enough if you want additional specialized training or advanced education (such as financial modeling).
7. Asset Management
- Starting Salary: $73,000
- Average Annual Salary: $150,000
Management of assets for a business or an individual is called asset management. Asset managers are in charge of assigning money to various investment vehicles, monitoring their performance, and intervening if there are any issues with that fund.
Asset management seeks to maximize returns on investment through a variety of strategies, generally through the purchase of bonds and equities but also occasionally through the use of derivatives like options contracts and futures contracts.
8. Investment Banking
- Starting Salary: $60,000
- Average Annual Salary: $150,000
One area of finance and financial services is investment banking. In securities like stocks, bonds, or debentures, it deals with the investment of money from corporations, governments, and institutions.
Investment bankers assist businesses in obtaining capital by helping them issue securities like stocks, bonds, or debentures. On mergers and acquisitions, they also offer guidance (M&A).
9. Private Equity
- Starting Salary: $80,000
- Average Annual Salary: $150,000
One kind of alternative investing is private equity. With a finance degree, it’s a well-liked and potentially lucrative job path.
There are many chances for graduates without this additional training, but having an MBA or other postgraduate degree in finance is the best way to break into private equity.
Private equity firms often engage in businesses that require restructuring or in companies with underperforming stock prices; in other words, they buy struggling companies and attempt to turn them around by making adjustments like cost-cutting measures or the introduction of new goods or services.
Many businesses receive hundreds of applications each year from people looking for jobs, making this activity potentially quite competitive.
10. Tax Advisory
- Starting Salary: $50,000
- Average Annual Salary: $150,000
Tax advisory is a lucrative and in-demand career in finance. An investment banker or hedge fund manager, it’s one of the most exciting and demanding occupations you can have.
By preparing and submitting tax returns, tax computations, and any other necessary paperwork, tax advisors can make sure their customers are abiding by the law.
They might also engage in consulting, advising customers on ways to lower their tax liabilities. This could be your ideal profession if you want to collaborate with some of the greatest names in finance.
11. Treasury
- Starting Salary: $80,000
- Average Annual Salary: $150,000
The financial management and planning division of a firm is called treasury. It manages the cash flow, receivables, inventory, and assets.
By managing risk and compliance issues within their department, a treasury expert will assist with the day-to-day operation of these areas.
Because they deal with consumers directly every day, treasury professionals need to be well-versed in business concepts as well as have outstanding communication abilities.
In order to create accurate reports at any time of day or night, they must also be detail-oriented (depending on where you work).
The outlook for this vocation is now favorable, and it is anticipated to continue improving as technology continues to transform how we live our daily lives.
12. Finance Engineering
- Starting Salary: $75,000
- Average Annual Salary: $150,000
The goal of the relatively young discipline of financial engineering, which combines engineering and financial expertise, is to streamline business operations.
Finance engineering is a relatively new field that combines the skills of finance and engineering, focused on streamlining processes within organizations.
The job roles are similar to those in both fields: managers, strategists, and analysts are all common occupations.
Finance engineers can expect to earn between $75,000 and $150,000 per year depending on their experience level.
Your salary will depend on where you live and what type of company you work for as well as whether or not they offer benefits such as health insurance or retirement plans.
13. Investment Banking Associate
- Starting Salary: $85,000
- Average Annual Salary: $145,000
A financial industry employee that specializes in identifying and creating business possibilities is known as an investment banking associate.
They accomplish this by collaborating with top executives and other management team members to find new projects that can be profited from.
Additionally, they assist businesses in deciding which projects to pursue and how to do so most effectively. Investment banking is frequently described as “banking for the bank” or even “banking on behalf of clients.”
14. Hedge Fund Manager
- Starting Salary: $85,000
- Average Annual Salary: $145,000
A hedge fund is a type of investment company that seeks to profit from changes in the value of financial instruments.
Hedge funds frequently make investments in a variety of securities, such as stocks and bonds, or they could place significant wagers on commodities or currencies.
A small team of individuals that manage investments for affluent investors run hedge funds.
For many people wishing to invest and profit from the stock market, hedge funds are becoming a popular choice.
Hedge funds come in a variety of forms, and they all operate with unique objectives and tactics.
15. Risk Management
- Starting Salary: $71,000
- Average Annual Salary: $140,000
The method through which a firm evaluates and reduces risks to its operations is known as risk management. Risks come in a wide variety, yet they all have a few things in common such as:
- Loss of value due to poor performance
- Loss of value due to fraud or theft
- Loss from litigation or regulatory fines.
Despite the fact that every risk type has its own distinct qualities, it is crucial for businesses to understand that each one has the potential to have an influence on their operations and should be handled accordingly.
16. Corporate Finance
- Starting Salary: $62,000
- Average Annual Salary: $125,000
As long as there have been financial markets around the world, corporate finance has existed.
Corporate finance is crucial to understand since it entails figuring out how businesses function, what risks they face, and how to manage them. In other words, understanding how firms operate is essential to corporate finance.
17. Investment Banking Analyst
- Starting Salary: $65,000
- Average Annual Salary: $120,000
An advanced degree and years of financial expertise are necessary for the position of investment banking analyst. Analysis of businesses, markets, and sectors is a requirement of the position in order to assess their likelihood of success or failure.
Using stock offerings or mergers and acquisitions, an investment banker can assist organizations with financial planning (M&A).
Analysts in investment banking work with business executives who want to sell new stock offerings to raise money. These offerings typically call for a thorough due diligence process before board approval.
18. Commercial Banking
- Starting Salary: $70,000
- Average Annual Salary: $120,000
You can assist businesses in managing their finances by working in commercial banking. You have the following obligations:
- Negotiating loans and other business deals
- Managing inventories accounts receivable, and inventory
- Preparing financial statements for the company’s management team, creditors and investors
Commercial bankers must be excellent communicators since they interact with clients every day. They must be familiar with both accounting principles and the laws governing financial operations (such as bankruptcy).
Before applying for jobs like those mentioned above, you must have at least an undergraduate degree in finance or economics from an authorized institution or university, along with at least three years of experience working in an entry-level position in this industry.
19. Actuarial Science
- Starting Salary: $60,000
- Average Annual Salary: $120,000
Actuaries analyze the risk of potential future events and calculate the likelihood that they will occur. They operate in the financial, healthcare, and insurance sectors.
Actuaries must possess a solid mathematical foundation and a sophisticated knowledge of statistics in order to succeed in their line of work.
Before joining a university after high school graduation (or even before), many actuarial students study courses like calculus or probability theory, therefore it’s crucial to examine whether these studies will assist you prepare for this vocation.
20. Insurance
- Starting Salary: $50,000
- Average Annual Salary: $110,000
A risk management tool, insurance offers financial security against monetary losses. It also entails the process of analyzing and minimizing risks to the project’s goals in order to deal with them before they materialize.
Insurance is a contract that an insurance company makes with a person or a business outlining what will happen in the event of a disaster and how much it will cost.
Depending on the kind of coverage you choose, there are different payment terms, but most policies cover losses like auto accidents, hospital costs, and lost wages from accidents or illnesses contracted while working.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the difference between a hedge fund manager and an investment banker?
A hedge fund manager works for a limited number of investors, as opposed to investment bankers who work for large banks or other financial institutions. In addition, hedge funds usually have more stringent requirements than traditional brokerages (e.g., due diligence on all deals).
What is the difference between a compliance officer and an auditor?
Compliance officers are responsible for ensuring that their firm complies with all regulations related to taxes and employment practices, auditors check whether internal controls are working properly so that records can be verified later on when needed by regulators or shareholders (or both).
What is the difference between a private equity manager and an investment banker?
A private equity manager buys and sells companies, while investment bankers work on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). In addition, private equity managers usually have more capital at their disposal than investment bankers.
What are the fundamental categories in finance?
There are four primary subfields of finance: corporate, public accounting, institutions, and banks. Financial markets and intermediaries are among the many topics covered by the courses in the finance major that give students a sound foundation.
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Conclusion:
The field of finance calls for a lot of effort and commitment. With more and more people entering the area every day, the industry has been expanding exponentially over the last few years.
This industry is one of the most lucrative to work in because of the exponential growth in demand for qualified individuals.
People in this field have a lot of opportunities to explore the new technologies that are emerging.
