How to earn at least six figures working in the middle office

Most people working in financial services want to be a trader or a corporate financier, or a salesperson or a structurer. They don't want to work in compliance or risk or product control.

Maybe this is a mistake. An eruption of recent salary surveys suggests some middle office jobs pay a lot. Unfortunately, just because they're in the middle office it doesn't mean that getting them, or keeping them, is all that easy.

1) Six figure jobs in product control

Starting salaries for the product controllers (who keep track of the profit and loss of the traders) are now 50k, says the head of one accountancy-focused recruitment firm, plus a 15-20% bonus maximum.

According to Robert Walters, product controllers with five years' experience are on salaries of 75k+, suggesting a total package that's easily in six figures.

However, the recruiter we spoke to pointed out that in order to reach the position, it will first be necessary to spend three to four years qualifying as an accountant, and then five years' working as one.

"You've got to do the miles if you want to earn 100k in product control," he says. "There's no easy route to 100k."

He also points out that product controllers work 55-70 hour weeks and the job can be very boring.

2) Six figure jobs in compliance

Recruitment firm PSD Group has produced its annual compliance salary survey. This shows that within investment banks, control room specialists in compliance can earn salaries up to 75k, product specialists can earn up to 90k, financial crime and data protection managers can earn up to 80k, and money laundering reporting officers can earn up to 120k.

Bonuses will be paid in addition to this, taking total compensation into six figures.

Edward Manson, senior compliance consultant at the PSD Group, says there's generally a shortage of good compliance people and that there's strong demand for people with financial crime and anti-money laundering backgrounds.

However, banks only want people with financial crime qualifications or anti-money laundering qualifications, both of which require prior commitment. They also want people with previous experience. Mason says it would take three to four years to earn six figures in either area.

3) Six figure jobs in risk

Risk jobs are the best paid in the front office. According to PSD, risk professionals in investment banks can earn salaries as follows, all of which should command bonuses of at least 10-20%.

- Director market risk: 110k-200k

- VP market risk: 85k-100k

- AVP market risk: 65-85k

- Analyst market risk: 30-45k

- Director credit risk: 120-200k

- VP credit risk: 75-100k

- AVP credit risk: 55-80k

- Analyst credit risk: 35-45k

- Director operational risk: 110k-150k

- VP operational risk: 80-100k

- AVP operational risk: 50-85k

- Analyst operational risk: 35-45k

- Director quantitative risk: 150-200k

- VP quantitative risk: 90-125k

- AVP quantitative risk: 70-90k

- Analyst quantitative risk: 35-55k

Matt Brown, head of risk recruitment at Barclays Simpson, stresses that risk jobs aren't very easy to get either. "There's a very well trodden path from internal audit into operational risk and the same goes for product control into market risk," he says. "But most of the positions we fill require prior risk experience."