Individuals at the junior level seeing large 10% increases in salary
The talent war in the global financial services industry continues to heat up and spread as salaries in the exchange traded fund and digital assets market climbed by around 10% last year, with individuals at the junior level seeing large increases in pay.
Blackwater Search & Advisory, a consulting and recruiting organization that specializes in the ETF and digital asset industries, polled over 3,000 people around the world for its annual report.
As reported by the Financial Times, the firm found that average salary and bonuses in the field increased by 11% and 10% in 2021, respectively.
In Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, the average compensation for workers in the sector was US$264,400, with wages accounting for US$157,633 of the total.
The average total compensation in the Emea region is US$272,874 compared to US$362,874 in the United States.
According to Blackwater, much of the wage growth has been "driven at the junior level," with total analyst compensation up 42% year over year. Those just starting out in their professions are paid on average US$87,000, the Times reported.
Michael O’Riordan, founding partner at Blackwater, said there was “a clear fight for young talent in the industry and firms are finding they need to meet the demands of candidates in order to attract the best talent. This is being reflected in the figures.”
Since the last survey, Blackwater discovered that sales and marketing compensation for ETFs and digital assets had climbed by 16%.
It also predicted that pay for capital markets roles will rise because “as more mutual fund managers enter the ETF space, typically the first hire they look to make is a capital markets person”.
Despite the rhetoric from corporations on equal pay, a "clear gap" in terms of "how women and men are compensated inside the ETF and digital assets industry" remained, with women receiving 16 percent less on average. In 2021, women working in ETFs and digital assets earned US$262,288 on average, compared to US$305,047 for males.
