Goodbye, million-dollar salary! Securities firms' salaries of four to five hundred thousand become the "new normal"

How much money can securities professionals, known as "white-collar workers of finance," really make?

You might think they can at least earn a million yuan a year, right?

But to be honest, in the past two years, the average annual salary of professionals in various securities firms has not reached this level!

This is not being "modest," but the latest disclosed annual reports of securities firms truthfully reflect the industry's current situation.

Even the army of securities professionals working in the "investment banking aristocracy" has already seen the average salary fall below the one million yuan mark!

The "Million-Dollar Salary Era" is Over

Looking at the latest released annual salaries of securities firm employees, several "eras" characteristics are evident.

First, without exception, all securities firms have failed to exceed an average salary of 1 million yuan. This situation first appeared in 2022 and continued in 2023.

In 2020, CICC's average salary per person exceeded one million yuan, maintaining a million-level standard in 2021, making them the so-called "investment banking aristocracy." However, starting in 2022, it dropped to 820,000 yuan per person, signaling a "shift" in the securities industry.

Second, the so-called "Three Central and One Hua" club has seen differences in salary levels—the four securities firms once considered strong, CITIC Securities, CICC, CITIC Construction Investment, and Huatai Securities, have gradually shown disparities.

Third, the salary levels of small and medium-sized securities firms have seen significant increases, but not all salary increases are the same, which is closely related to the preparation of the annual report itself.

Fourth, over the past three years, many securities firms have seen minimal changes in salaries, representing a group of quietly unaffected individuals.

It should be noted that the formula for calculating the average salary of securities firm employees is: (total employee compensation + year-end employee compensation payable - beginning-of-year employee compensation payable) / [(beginning-of-year employee count + year-end employee count) / 2].

Due to calculation differences, the after-tax income of securities professionals may actually be lower than the average salary reported in the annual report.

"CITIC + CICC" Lead the Pack

Reviewing the annual reports, it was found that in 2023, the average annual salaries of CITIC Securities and CICC were 791,900 yuan and 700,400 yuan, respectively.

Across the entire securities industry, only these two "central" giants have employees with annual salaries exceeding 700,000 yuan.

It is important to note that this is still an "average" annual salary figure, with a considerable number of employees below this threshold.

In 2021, when CICC's annual salary exceeded one million yuan, CITIC Securities was far behind, with a difference of 200,000 yuan in average salary between the two. By 2022, CITIC Securities began to lead this performance-oriented competitor. By 2023, the annual salary of the "investment banking aristocracy" CICC had fallen behind the "top player in the securities industry" by 90,000 yuan In addition to the comparison of the absolute values of their salaries, CICC's salary reduction rate is significantly ahead of CITIC, with the former seeing a nearly 15% year-on-year decrease, while the latter experienced a 5% year-on-year decrease.

Of course, this magnitude may be considered "small change". Looking back to 2022, when CICC fell below the "million yuan" mark, the average salary per person dropped by as much as 30% year-on-year.

Behind the salaries, the number of employees also plays a significant role. As of the latest data, CITIC Securities Group has 26,800 employees, with the total number of employees in the parent company being 16,200; CICC Group has 15,300 employees, with 6,479 working at the headquarters.

Top Brokerages Overall "Stable with Decline"

Both CITIC and CICC, which are at the industry's salary "ceiling", have seen a decrease in average salaries. Other top brokerages are generally following this trend.

Guotai Junan, with an average salary of 658,400 yuan in 2023, ranks third in the industry, but also experienced a decrease of over 10% year-on-year. Looking back to 2022, this brokerage's average salary increased from 711,300 yuan to 741,900 yuan, but last year it took a step back with a salary reduction.

Shenwan Hongyuan represents a "small salary adjustment". The average salaries in the past three years were 712,100 yuan, 667,100 yuan, and 654,100 yuan respectively, with a relatively "small" year-on-year decrease.

Huatai Securities indeed saw a "significant salary cut". As one of the members of the "Three Central and One Hu" club, this institution had an average salary of 719,900 yuan in 2021, which dropped directly to 629,700 yuan the following year, and remained around 620,000 yuan last year.

"Salary Dark Horse" Against the Trend

It is worth noting that Zhongtai Securities, with an average salary of 632,000 yuan, ranked fifth in the industry in 2023, surpassing the aforementioned Huatai Securities with a staggering 41% year-on-year increase.

How did this "anomaly" come about?

In the annual report, this brokerage stated the following in the employee compensation section: "During the reporting period, the balance of employee compensation payable by WanJia Fund was included in the consolidated financial statements."

Another "dark horse" is Everbright Securities, where the average annual salary increased from 466,100 yuan in the previous year to the latest 512,800 yuan.

In the 2023 annual report of this brokerage, it was disclosed: "The IT personnel compensation for this period is 241 million yuan, compared to 213 million yuan for IT personnel compensation in the previous year."

40, 50 Thousand is the "New Normal"

Looking at the latest average salaries in the brokerage industry, earning over 400,000 or 500,000 yuan a year is considered a normal level.

Many brokerages fall within this normal range, with the "over 500,000" group including GF Securities, CITIC Securities, Orient Securities, China Galaxy Securities, and Everbright Securities.

The "over 400,000" group includes Haitong Securities, Southwest Securities, CMB Securities, Guolian Securities, and Founder Securities.

Clearly, in the industry's prosperity and overall environment, brokerage salaries have gradually entered a "new normal"