If you work at an asset management firm – or if you’re an aspiring asset management professional – then you want to know what the heavy-hitters in the industry pay in the US. BlackRock, Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco) and Capital Group, the latter best-known for its mutual fund subsidiary American Funds, certainly qualify. Here are the salaries that US employees earn at each of these fund firms, according to Glassdoor.
BlackRock
BlackRock, including its iShares exchange-traded fund business, is the largest asset management firm in the world based on assets under management. It is also the most sought-after landing spot in terms of which fund shops asset management professionals most want to join, according to our 2016 Ideal Employer Rankings, which surveyed more than 6,500 financial services professionals globally.
Our survey suggests that the people who want to work for BlackRock value the firm for its high pay, the financial performance of the firm, the opportunities it affords to work with key industry players, the fact that it is perceived to be a leader in the industry, and the challenging and interesting work that its executives take on.
Base salaries for its associates and VPs appear to be competitive, while its portfolio management associates, portfolio managers and managing directors all seem to be well-compensated.
Pimco
Pimco placed seventh on our list of the top asset management firms everyone wants to work for. The Newport Beach, California-based firm has long be one of the most highly respected fixed income managers in the world, although in May investors removed around $1bn from its flagship Total Return Fund, one of the biggest bond mutual funds. Whether or not such outflows will impact compensation remains to be seen, but Pimco is cutting close to 70 jobs – approximately 3% of the workforce – and closing six funds with around $260m under management.
The fund manager has a wide range of job titles that pull in healthy six-figure salaries.
Capital Group
Capital Group came in eighth place in our ranking of the asset management firms that most people in the industry want to work for. American Funds has attracted $5.2bn of inflows over the 12 months that ended on April 30, overtaking Fidelity to become the second-largest mutual fund family after Vanguard, according to Morningstar.
As might be expected from the notoriously secretive firm, very few of its most senior executives have provided data to Glassdoor, although plenty of junior and mid-level personnel have done so. Capital Group’s investment analysts in particular appear to be very well-compensated.
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