Finance careers with best pay and work-life balance

Research from salary benchmarking website Emolument has revealed which front office finance careers offer the best pay and work-life balance.

The study surveyed a selection of front office bankers aged between 25 and 40 to find out how satisfied they are with their job and compared this with how much they earn to identify the most rewarding front office finance careers.

Demanding

The research found that whilst a career in M&A and leveraged finance is the most rewarding in terms of salary, respondents also feel that it is the most demanding. Those working in this category earn £3.8m over a period of 15 years before tax, whilst 59 per cent of workers were found to be satisfied with the work-life balance provided by the role.

Trading and structuring were next on the list, with workers in these categories earning £3,777k and £3,599k respectively. These roles were found to offer a better work-life balance, with 65 per cent of respondents working in each category being satisfied with their job.

Origination/syndication came next, with workers aged between 25 and 40 receiving an average of £3,553k. Job satisfaction was high for this role, with 78 per cent saying that it offers a good work-life balance.

Sales-based finance roles were found to offer an average compensation of £3,308k, whilst 62 per cent of respondents said that they were satisfied with the work-life balance offered in this role.

Lower

The data showed that fund manager hedge fund roles and research (banking) offer £2,989k and £2,878k respectively, but have lower levels of satisfaction than other finance roles (60 per cent and 59 per cent respectively).

Fund manager asset manager was found to be the least rewarding role in terms of earnings, with the total compensation standing at £2,363k. However, 74 per cent working in this role said that they were satisfied with their work-life balance.