Salaries hold up in a static market

Salaries for IT professionals in investment banks are up! But control your excitement - the increase is only just above 1%.

The latest salary survey by IT recruiter JM Group has painted a picture of caution, but not despair. Hiring has slowed to a snail's pace, with sign-off for new recruits having to come from the top, and salaries have risen by an average of just 1.2%.

The biggest winners to emerge have been the business analysts, who have seen an average increase of 5% on base salaries.

Business analysts working on vanilla products in the front office can haul in an average of 70k at associate level and 85k at VP level, says the report. For those working on exotic derivatives the average pay is 75k for associates and 95k for VPs.

"Front-office derivatives experience is at a premium, with particular emphasis across commodities, interest rates, credit and equities," says Rory Ferguson, director and head of JM Group.

"There's consistent pressure on diversifying revenue streams within these organisations. There was already a demand there and it's amplified as banks focus on alternative revenue streams considering the current market climate."

And while hiring looks icy within the i-banks with heavy sub-prime exposures, those relatively unaffected by the crunch are aggressively looking to up their headcount, says the survey.

But could slowing recruitment mean salaries are set to dip?

Ferguson thinks so: "It's finely balanced at the moment, and clients are willing to pay a premium for the best available people - particularly at the senior end. However, if the choice of candidates grows, the more vulnerable salaries are likely to face a retreat of some sort."

What are you worth?

Project & development managers

Development manager: VP 85k

Programme manager: Associate 65k, VP 85k

PMO manager: Associate 55k, VP 75k

Project manager with financial product knowledge: Associate 70k, VP 90k

Business analysts

Front office - vanilla products: Associate 70k, VP 85k

Front office - exotic derivatives: Associate 75k, VP 95k

Development (with financial product knowledge)

Java (core Java, J2EE): Associate 70k, VP 90k

.NET/C#: Associate 60k, VP 80k

C++ (Mircosoft/Unix): Associate 65k, VP 85k

HTML/JavaScript: Associate 45k, VP n/a

Excel/Access VBA: Associate 65k, VP 90k

3rd Party Applications (Murex, Fidessa, SUMMIT): Associate 75k, VP 90k

Source: The JM Index. Salaries are mid-range to avoid bracketing and rounded to the nearest increment of 5k. Figures are for base only and do not include bonus.