Salary.sg Forums - View Single Post - High Finance Thread
View Single Post
  #240 (permalink)  
Old 06-06-2021, 06:01 PM
Unregistered
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Lightbulb

If you want to find salary ranges for global banks in Singapore, the information is freely available if you do a proper search for them. The popular website efinancialcareers also regularly publishes its own finance salary surveys of various global cities, including Singapore. Two examples are the following:
w.efinancialcareers.hk/news/2019/08/how-to-earn-125k-in-singapore-banking-three-years-after-you-graduate

w.efinancialcareers.hk/news/finance/this-is-what-your-investment-banking-salary-should-be-in-singapore

There are also various job postings by international banks on the Singapore government website - mycareersfuture - where they are required to list the salary on offer. A few FO postings are the following:
Analyst (min 1y experience) for $7.5-$10k/month - Goldman:
w.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/job/banking-finance/global-markets-ficc-asian-em-macro-trader-analyst-goldman-sachs-d57a9f86761594f1daa5a6ed9cc30d0d?source=MCF&event= SuggestedJob

Associate-VP (min 5y experience) for $15-$24.6k/month - SocGen:
w.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/job/banking-finance/fx-sales-regional-banks-societe-generale-dfc1c846a5eb4f8a6ae544ab4ce61751

VP-Director (min 8y experience) for $17-$26.7k/month - Nomura:
w.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/job/banking-finance/vice-president-%E2%80%93-fx-options-quant-global-markets-nomura-singapore-898371c1c39fab7b32a99a3a8f96a262

VP-ED (min 7y experience) for $15-$30k/month - JPM:
w.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/job/banking-finance/cib-credit-portfolio-trading-vice-president-jpmorgan-chase-bank-na-69132ef780eda32f9444f32e51848163

VP-ED (min 8y experience) for $17.5-$35k/month - Goldman
w.mycareersfuture.gov.sg/job/banking-finance/global-markets-ficc-sea-solution-sales-executive-director-goldman-sachs-035dfa48140bdcbd50b24337a5e8b880?source=MCF&event= RecommendedJobJD

Based on these various surveys & job postings, I would characterise the FRONT OFFICE base salary ranges at global banks as follows:
Analyst: $7-$12k/month
Associate: $12-$20k/month
VP: $15-$30k/month
ED/Director: $25-$40k/month

The ranges can be wide with overlaps across ranks even within the same bank. I have been in the industry for over a decade, and I know that the salary ranges depend on your years of experience (many people are stuck at the VP level, sometimes for their entire career but they might still get salary raises), how much the bank wants/needs you (i.e. your skills and/or contacts), how well you negotiate (and you need to do this every year with your boss), and if you change jobs every several years (in the end, you can probably get a better increment if you find a job with a competitor).

The key to a rewarding banking career is longevity. Get to a Director level (say in around 9-12 years), or even better MD level, and stay there for 10+ years making over $500k in total comp per year over that time (perhaps even well over).

Assuming you already bought a house/condo (with mortgage) while a VP, and being able to make a good income as Director/MD for more than a decade, you can then retire comfortably in your mid-late 50s if you wish. If you are posted to an overseas posting during that time, say London or NY or HK, you may even have a second home in one of these places by then.
Reply With Quote