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Investment management professionals in insurance companies averaged $168,000 in total compensation in 2003. This was below the averages for those in mutual fund management firms ($185,500) but above similar professionals in investment counseling firms ($162,500), securities broker/dealers ($155,000) and banks ($130,000), according to a survey by the Association for Investment Management and Research, Charlottesville, Va., and the recruiting firm Russell Reynolds Associates, New York.
Insurance companies paid a median salary of $124,200 to their investment management professionals, plus $40,000 in bonuses and $10,000 in noncash compensation, says AIMR in its 2003 Investment Management Compensation Survey. (Totaling these medians do not match figures for total compensation because the components of the data are different.)
Across all industries, investment professionals said their pay has shrunk considerably over the past few years, which AIMR says reflects the long slump in the stock market. A decline in cash bonuses accounted for most of the shrinkage, although average salaries were down for many positions as well.
Investment professionals working for insurance companies fared better than most, as their compensation fell only 9% between 2001 and 2003, compared to declines of 38% at securities broker/dealers, 29% at mutual fund companies, 26% at investment counseling firms and 16% at banks during the same period, says AIMR.
Almost 11,800 U.S. professionals participated in the 2003 survey, representing a broad variety of investment management positions in financial services, ranging from chief executive, financial and operating officers to portfolio managers, securities analysts and marketing/sales executives.
With median noncash compensation remaining at $10,000 since 1999, median total compensation for investment professionals in all industries in 2003 stood at $148,000, down 22% from $190,000 in 2001 and 10% from $165,000 in 1999.
