How much am I worth? Technology fund manager, equities

A panel of specialist headhunters give their assessment of typical UK pay packages.

Salary of technology fund manager, equities: 100,000 - 140,000, total package 160,000 - 250,000

Belts are still tight in the technology sector with very few players likely to exceed the 250,000 mark this year. The days when the buyside hoped to rival the packages achieved by the sellside a couple of years ago are a foggy memory.

In those days packages of 300,000 - 400,000 were common and a few star performers were earning in the millions.

Given the continued poor performance of the sector (the MSCI Technology Index fell by 45% in 2001), bonuses have suffered severely. Carried interest benefits, which are typically based on performance above a benchmark, have dropped 40% or more according to Simon Bell, head of asset management at Alexander Mann Global Markets.

There are lots of different remuneration structures around, however. European institutions generally offer lower bonuses and higher basic salaries than their US counterparts.

In some houses bonuses are dependent on individual and team performance only. In others the performance of the institution as a whole is also taken into account, says Samantha Donald of the headhunter Executive Resourcing Group.

Basic salaries vary too. At the junior end, some employees may be earning as little as 80,000 a year, headhunters say. At a number of firms however, basic pay may have drifted upwards in order to retain and motivate talent in the current low bonus climate.

Bell notes that HR departments will find it hard to satisfy those who are on low base salaries in the current bonus rounds.

The outlook for the next few months is unexciting, but in the medium to long term technology is still a key sector to be in because of its importance to the global economy.

Although recruitment is flat, Bell says there is some interest in analysts covering the small to mid-cap sectors. There is also increasing interest in recruiting fund managers from the technology sector itself - such as companies dealing with hardware/software, fixed-line services, wireless and G3.

"I've had briefs from CIOs specifically to recruit people from industry who have detailed market knowledge," says Bell. "People who have been involved in the finance of new product development, with obtaining mezzanine finance or venture capital might be very attractive."

Those who can offer detailed understanding of a sector plus in-depth knowledge of finance and the fund management process are always highly sought after in fund management.

"You want fund managers who have strong enthusiasm for their sector, who love working in it, and have an intuitive understanding of how everything fits together," says Donald. "Those are the fund managers who are most valued."

Figures and commentary for "How much am I worth?" are provided by the following firms: Alexander Mann Global Markets, Executive Resourcing Group and Longbridge.