Young super earners
A banner year for bankers and traders who will outearn many of their peers in other fields
By Melissa Sim
THERE'S never been a better time to be a banker, or so Mr Yeo Soen Ming will tell you.The 34-year-old MBA holder from London Business School expects to earn more than US$500,000 (S$771,025) this year, including bonuses.
As a banker working in institutional equity sales, Mr Yeo helps clients make money through buying and selling stocks.
[=> Stock broker say stock broker lah!]
'The thrill at the end of the day is knowing that you made the right calls and made money for the client,' said the father of one.
The handsome reward he is expecting is the result of a banner year for bankers and traders across the globe, spurred on by a booming stocks and commodities market and a high number of company sales and takeovers.
The US$3.46 trillion in acquisition deals this year broke the record set in 2000. The global nature of the job means that even those in Singapore handle clients around the world, and reap the rewards.
Just last week, Goldman Sachs Group announced earnings of US$9.54 billion - the highest in Wall Street history.
It will set aside US$16.5 billion for salaries, bonuses and benefits - translating to an average of US$622,000 for each employee.
Other top investment banks such as Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch have also benefited this year from the robust world economy.
The cash that they are handing out to employees is turning the traditional idea of a lucrative career on its head.
Yes, doctors and lawyers make a lot of money, but they have to wait for years until they reach a senior enough level.
Investment bankers and traders are raking in the really big bucks this year - even when they are relatively young.
Checks by The Sunday Times showed that the remuneration in investment banking and trading exceeds that in law and medicine.
In their first year on the job, investment bankers and those in sales and trading can earn a basic annual pay of $100,000.
By the time they are 35, this can go up to $500,000 including bonuses - $40,000 a month.
Lawyers, on the other hand, are paid a starting salary of about $50,000 at big firms such as Drew and Napier and Rajah and Tan.
Doctors start off with about $60,000 after housemanship.
But while a lawyer may make $400,000 a year by 35 if he is made a partner, a doctor would earn that kind of money only when he becomes a specialist in private practice - which usually does not happen till about 45.
So it is just as well that Ms Janice Foo, 28, did not become a doctor.
[=> As if she can!]
Working in foreign exchange sales - buying and selling currency for institutional investors - in an American investment house, she is another of Singapore's young high-fliers.
Although she declined to disclose her pay, she told The Sunday Times that she could well afford the downpayment and instalments for a BMW and a swanky apartment in town.
Her businessman father
[=> Fake meritocracy?]
had always wanted a doctor in the family, but she decided to do a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance, and a master's in finance from the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
The decision has paid off.
Headhunter Declan O'Sullivan, from Kerry Consulting, explained that bankers like Ms Foo are highly paid because there are only a handful who can do the job well.
'Each of them is like a fighter pilot, you only need one really good guy flying the plane,' he said, adding that each of them is often responsible for millions of dollars.
The unforgiving nature of the job also accounts for the high pay.
Trader Joao Lay, 32, who did his masters in finance at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and now earns more than $200,000 a year, said: 'When things go your way, you're rewarded handsomely, but if you don't live up to expectations, you're out.'
Mr O'Sullivan agreed: 'It's high risk, high return.'
[=> PAP Ministers = Low risk, high return?]
Then there are the long days and punishing schedules.
Ms Foo, who just got engaged, works 12-hour days which begin at 7am, stares at six computer screens throughout the day, and only allows herself a five-minute break. Getting calls from clients in the US at 3am is par for the course.
[=> As if the other lowly paid workers dun need to work long hours!]
Investment bankers have it worse. They work 16-hour days, seven days a week and hardly ever get the chance to take annual leave.
[=> As if other professionals dun need to work long hours!]
Mr Yeo cited the case of a former colleague who called in sick one day, thinking he could have the day off. But his boss couriered all the documents to him so that he could work from home.
Investment banker G. Lim, 26, said that the long hours and ad hoc business trips truly take a toll.
'We make intra-day trips at really short notice, we get up at 4am, fly at 7am, attend a two-hour meeting, fly back and are expected to finish up all the day's usual work,' he said.
All the people interviewed declined to name their employers.
National University of Singapore graduate X.W. Lee, who is in her mid-20s and works in institutional sales, enjoys what she does, but says that the stress level is high.
She works from 5.30am to 6pm and spends her weekends doing research and planning proposals.
'Those who say they envy us because of our pay must understand that, in reality, the job is not as glamorous as it appears,' she said.
Big bucks only to be expected
Name: Yeo Soen Ming
Age: 34
Occupation: Institutional equity sales
Earning power: Over US$500,000 this year On his pay: 'If you're at this level and you don't make around US$500,000 this year, that would be quite sad. Look at it this way: In the first year out of business school, you're expected to earn US$180,000 to US$200,000. I've been out of business school for four years.' --WANG HUI FEN
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