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All-Asia Buy-Side Compensation

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Portfolio managers in Asia may want to think hard about the size of their employers’ asset base.

Mutual fund managers at firms that oversaw $10 billion or greater earned an average of almost $1,330,000 as their base pay last year, and nearly $2,542,000 in variable compensation, according to Institutional Investor’s 2018 All-Asia Buy-Side Compensation Report.

But if they had been employed at a firm that oversaw less than $10 billion, their average total compensation would have been a tiny fraction of that figure. Equity portfolio managers at firms with between $5 billion and $10 billion in assets earned an average of $102,000 in base salary and bonus pay of almost $128,000.

II’s first-annual Asian compensation study gathered data from 500 employees at Asia-based hedge funds, mutual funds, and investment advisory firms who reported their 2017 pay and what they expected to earn in variable compensation, including bonus, commissions, and options. Respondents also reported their expectations for their total compensation over the next two years.

The 2018 All-Asia Buy Side Compensation report measures the average base and variable compensation for Portfolio Managers, Portfolio Manager/Research Analysts, and Research Analysts at the top Hedge Funds, Investment Advisory Firms, and Mutual Funds in Asia.

Participants in the survey:

  • actively managed Asian equity assets in 2017;
  • disclosed their 2017 base compensation;
  • disclosed their expected variable compensation (bonus, commission, options) for 2017; and
  • disclosed what they expect to happen to their total compensation over the next 24 months.
  • ~500 individuals responded to the survey

Compensation amounts given in currencies other than United States Dollars were converted to USD using the average exchange rates for April 2018.
Definitions:

Average Compensation: The average of the reported base and variable compensation figures in USD were calculated for each of the three title groups (Portfolio Managers, Portfolio Manager/Research Analysts, and Research Analysts) for each of the three institution types (Hedge Funds, Investment Advisory Firms, and Mutual Funds) broken out by eight AUM bands.

Compensation Distribution: The proportion of the group of individuals with a given title at a given institution type whose given base and variable compensation falls within each of the dollar amount ranges is calculated within each AUM band.

Expected Change in Compensation: The proportion of the group of individuals with a given title at a given institution type that gave each answer type is calculated within each AUM band.

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