What Are The Best Paying Jobs In Finance Consumer Services?
With movies like “Wolf of Wallstreet”, “Margin Trading” and more being released, many people have this belief that finance is the most lucrative field there is to make money. Although they might not be completely wrong on that, financial consumer services have seen many executives getting hundreds of thousands of dollars while the echelon in this space takes home in the millions. However, to get to that status or standing, one must sacrifice everything. If you’re willing to put the hard work in and dedicate part of your life to this endeavor, then read on as we will guide you through some of the career paths you can take and explore the best paying jobs in finance consumer services.
Before we get into the best paying jobs in finance consumer services, let’s go through a quick overview of the financial industry.
Financial Services Industry: An Overview
Those that have heard about the standard of living of financial executives, quickly start searching for the best paying jobs in finance consumer services. However, when going into a career, that is not the first thing an individual should look into.
Financial services is a broad field with many different divisions. You may have noticed that financial services are all around us, for example when you go to a bank to deposit a cheque or when you get a call from an insurance company or when you approach an investment bank to manage your funds, and so on. There are so many examples of financial services being provided around us and hence the query of best paying jobs in finance consumer services should not be anyone’s priority.
You may have heard about certain countries being financial hubs. Countries like Shanghai, London, New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore are known as the top-ranking financial hubs of the world where major transactions and financial services are being provided. This was not the case back then in the early and mid 19th century.
Economies first depended on the agricultural sector and slowly shifted towards manufacturing before the world leaped financial services. In 1950, financial services catered for 10% of all the profits generated by businesses, however, the picture is a bit different today with almost 50% of all the profits generated by financial services. It is a huge sector that is helping run the economy. Perhaps this might be why there are best paying jobs in finance consumer services.
Before we get into some of the best paying jobs in finance consumer services, let’s look at the sectors or firms operating in this space. This will help you get an idea of what kind of professional career you can see yourself in these best paying jobs in finance consumer services. It is to be noted that the highest paying finance jobs are the ones that fill the top positions in a financial services company. Jobs in customer service or entry-level jobs in finance do not pay as well as one would think.
Banking – Retail And Commercial
With billions of individuals around the world, retail banking is certainly the foundation of consumer financial services. Retail and commercial banking ensure daily transactions are carried smoothly with additional financial services provided to individuals and corporations.
Banks are responsible for opening accounts for consumers, providing them credit and debit cards, facilitating daily transactions, providing loans and mortgages. These are not the only services provided by the banking sector as they also deal with foreign exchanges too.
In banks, there are many bank customer service jobs or trade finance or other financial categories but these are not the best paying jobs in finance consumer services. If you’re wondering what are some of the best paying jobs in finance consumer services or best paying bank jobs then you should know that the highest paying bank jobs are taken by the chief financial officer and chief risk officer.
Investment Banking
Investment banks are responsible for ensuring the flow of capital and financing among governments and corporations. These banks purchase equity and debt through different financial markets and manage these on behalf of their banks. However, that is not the only role of an investment bank as these banks also facilitate corporations with mergers and acquisitions. The facilitation of mergers and acquisitions is a huge chunk of the revenue generated by investment banks. From this, you may get an idea that the best paying jobs in finance consumer services, especially in investment banks are those working on the mergers and acquisitions side.
Insurance
Insurance companies provide a way for companies to manage their risk in a tangible form. It is a subsector of the finance consumer services and these services are provided to individuals and corporations. Under this category, there are also companies called re-insurers that sell insurance to insurance companies. This insurance is a product used to help insurers hedge their risk in case of any uncertain huge losses. Of course, the best paying jobs in finance consumer services in insurance companies are those that sell insurance policies. The more insurance policies you sell, the more you earn.
Financial Advisors
New South Capital Management, Montag & Caldwell, and Dana Investment Advisors are some of the well-known names in financial advisory in the United States. These firms provide advisory to corporates and individuals helping them manage their finances. Brokerage firms also come under the category of financial advisors and this would include mutual funds companies, asset management companies, and those companies that offer ETFs or exchange-traded funds. Finance is a very competitive field with financial advisory taking it one step further as these are the people who predict the future of stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments. Best paying jobs in finance consumer services or financial advisory are those that are in portfolio management.
Hedge Funds
These are made for the needs of rich individuals who need their wealth managed. However, it is not limited to them only but also caters to large corporate investors. People in this category provide management services for the investments and properties of these investors. In return for providing such financial services, these firms charge their clients management fees and take a certain percentage from the profits generated by the investment. There is no doubt that being hedge fund managers are the best paying jobs in finance consumer services in this category.
Private Equity
Firms under this category provide capital to businesses for growth in return for a percentage stake in the business or have a profit-sharing model. The capital by these firms, especially start-ups is used to expand their presence internationally in the hopes of making more revenue due to access to larger audiences.
Private equity firms have been responsible for boosting technology firms in the earlier part of the 1990s, however with large prospects of making money in healthcare, these firms have shifted their focus there. Those in key positions at a private equity firm are considered to have the best paying jobs in finance consumer services, just like hedge fund managers.
Other Financial Services
The categories mentioned above are not the only categories in the field of financial consumer services. So if you’re looking for the best paying jobs in finance consumer services but not in the categories mentioned above then worry not. Accounting firms, taxation firms, and fintech firms are some of the other financial services offered in the field of finance.
5 Best Paying Jobs In Finance Consumer Services
As mentioned previously, the best paying jobs in finance consumer services are those that take the top positions.
The chief financial officer is the top-tier position in a finance firm and is known for being notoriously hard to get in. This position requires the best education (only from the top 10 business schools in the world) and the highest number of years at a firm. A CEO can earn above $200,000 annually without adding up any incentives.
You may look at other positions like chief financial officer or chief risk officer which are also the top-paying jobs in a finance firm. An average salary of a CFO is around $155,000 annually while a CRO is paid slightly higher at $189,000 annually. The difference between the two is perhaps because managing a firm’s money is difficult but those managing risks are even more valuable.
As the world has started focusing more on compliance and technology, positions like chief compliance officer and chief technology officer have grown in demand thus pushing the salaries upwards. Both positions were not that sought out a couple of decades ago but with globalization and digitalization, both positions are now considered to be the highest paying jobs in finance.
The average pay for a CTO is around $163,000 annually while a CCO can earn anywhere between $120,000 to $170,000 annually. Bear in mind that whatever salary mentioned here is just averages and these can go up and down depending on your experience and expertise. A CFO can earn at least half a million with bonus and stock options while a CEO can rake in more than that.
To get to this position, one must not only complete basic education and get a degree but also have additional certifications, fluency in current events, and soft skills. A combination of all three is the best way to climb up the financial ladder as the competition in this field is enormous.
Does Customer Service Eventually Lead To The Best Paying Jobs In Finance Consumer Services?
Finance is a very competitive field and many feel that the easiest way one can get accepted into some of the best paying jobs in finance consumer services is by getting into customer service. So, what is a customer service job?
People in customer service are the focal point between the company and the individual and therefore these people provide support to the customers. The support could be in regards to getting information, details about their accounts or investments, opening accounts or closing, and more.
Customer service also includes the bank tellers that you interact with when at a bank. Job as a bank teller is considered to be one of the highest paying customer service jobs in the industry. However, you would need a certain level of education to be able to qualify for applying. The pay increases exponentially in customer service. For example, a Santander auto loan customer service might get a starting salary of $25,000 annually but after a couple of promotions to the incident manager, employees can expect over $100,000 annually.
If you’re looking for the highest paying work from home jobs without a degree, then you should know that sales representatives in some financial firms will offer you that flexibility. For a career in sales, a diploma or certification is more than enough to land a high-paying job.
Before you start your search for high-paying customer service jobs or customer service representative jobs near me, you should understand the requirements of the job. Mostly training is provided if it is your first job, however, besides training, you should be good with people. That is the main requirement of the job. Your personality should be easy going and you should be able to approach people confidently.
If you’re an extrovert and thinking about getting into customer service representative jobs then it might not be the best career choice for you. However, being adamant and persistent is the key to succeeding in any field.
People in customer service are well versed with the products and services being offered and those people who know a business’s products and services are the ones that climb the ladder quicker than anyone. You may find that although customer service is the key to getting into a financial services firm without high requirements, it will be the one that might open more doors for you in the future based on your performance.
