Hong Kong Investment Banking Salaries Overtake London

21 Dec 2011

Average base pay for investment banking and hedge fund staff in Hong Kong has shot up by 15 per cent this year overtaking salary hikes in London

Such generous rises highlight the two-speed global economy in 2011 as Asia powered ahead while Europe and the US teetered close to recession.

Analysts in Hong Kong have seen 20 per cent base pay increases while those at “managing director” level have seen raises averaging 25 per cent. Average base pay for investment banking and fund management staff now stands at HK$890,000 (about £74,000).

Equivalent staff in London saw rises of 12 per cent.

Mark O’Reilly, managing director of recruitment firm Astbury Marsden which carried out the research, said: “Investment banking teams operating in Hong Kong have performed more strongly than their counterparts in London and New York in 2011. Generally banks are keener to invest in their teams in Asia than in Europe and the US and that has meant a bigger boost for Hong Kong bankers’ base pay.”

But next year is expected to be tougher as Western banks caught up in the euro zone debt crisis take a more cautious approach to their Asian expansion.