Salaries and bonuses for Managing Directors in banks in London, New York and Hong Kong

We've told you how much you're going to earn as an analyst or an associate in an investment bank. We've told you how much you're going to earn as a vice president (VP). But what happens if you make director and then managing director (MD) in an investment bank? How much will you earn then?

A new salary and bonus survey from banking executive search firm Pinpoint Partners purposes to provide the answers. If you make director or MD in a bank, you're going to earn a lot. - But just how much will depend where in the world you're based.

PinPoint's survey refers only to directors and MDs in investment banking divisions (IBD) - ie. working in M&A or equity capital markets (ECM), or debt capital markets (DCM). They don't apply to people doing sales and trading jobs in the markets divisions of investment banks. 

How much does a director earn in an investment bank?

A director in an investment bank earns between $383k and $727k in combined salary and bonus, depending upon seniority and location.

How much does a managing director earn in an investment bank?

Pinpoint says an MD in an investment bank earns between $640k and $2.6m in combined salary and bonus. As the charts below show, pay is generally highest in New York City and lowest in Hong Kong. London falls between the two. 

Needless to say, there aren't just a few directors or managing directors in each investment bank. - Director and MD are just rungs on the banking hierarchy, with MD at the top. Most banks have thousands of each. Directors typically hang around three years (before getting promoted to MD or fired), although some hang on for longer.

The chart immediately below shows average total pay (salaries plus bonuses) for directors and MDs in London, New York and Hong Kong. The charts below that show salaries and bonuses individually in each city. 

There are a few anomalies - second year MD compensation in New York is weirdly low, for example. Second year MD compensation in London is an extrapolation based on first and third year MD compensation as Pinpoint had insufficient data. Mostly though, it looks like New York salaries and bonuses for senior investment bankers are higher than elsewhere. 

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