Banking Operations Compensation Survey

Employment & Recruitment Intelligence:

88% of banking operations staff exepct a bonus this Year

“Our latest recruitment intelligence shows a surprising level of confidence in the sector, whether this is borne out in compensation reviews remains to be seen.”
Sally Martin, Associate Director – Operations Recruitment

Ahead of this year-end we surveyed 346 professionals working in the operations functions of investment banks.  The results are a surprising indicator of confidence in the sector.  Operations professionals are expecting pay rises and bonuses this year and 80% say they will be looking for new job in the new year.

Salary v Bonus
Despite recent rebalancing of the fixed v variable elements of compensation packages in the sector, bonus expectations are much higher than expected.  In fact, operations professionals expect higher bonuses than salary rises this year, with 81% anticipating a bonus of 6% or more of their salary.  Whether these expectations are realistic remains to be seen and whilst most say they are happy with the new arrangements - 26% say they are very dissatisifed with the structure of their compensation package.  For further information on our compensation survey, or for help with salary benchmarking, call Sally Martin on + 44 (0) 020 7509 8787

Banking v Investment Management
Expectations in investment management are even higher, with 92% saying they expect a bonus, compared to 88% in investment banks.  Again, pay rise expectations are higher in investment management with 81% expecting a rise compared to 76% of operations staff in investment banks. View our investment management compensation survey.

 Results At a Glance

• 69% expect a pay rise this year
• 88% are expecting a bonus this year
• 78% of professionals are considering a job move post bonus
• 46% thinking about moving specify career development as their main reason for moving
  
  

About the banking operations compensation survey
The Robert Walters Financial Services Compensation Survey 2011, carried out in September 2011, asked exactly 1600 respondents working in operations, finance, compliance and risk about their bonus and pay expectations ahead of year-end.