Securities Firm Employees Earn 100 Million KRW in First Half... Approaching the '200 Million KRW Annual Salary Era'

No.1 Meritz Securities, Average Salary of 108.9 Million KRW in H1
M&A, IPO Headquarters Sales Roles Exceed 200 Million KRW in H1
Gender Gap Persists... Larger Than Differences Between Job Categories

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] A securities firm has emerged with an average salary exceeding 100 million KRW for all employees in the first half of the year. It is said that the '200 million KRW salary era' for securities firms, known for high-paying jobs, is approaching.

Meritz Ranks First, Surpassing 100 Million KRW in the First Half... Recent Upward Trend

According to the semi-annual report of securities firms disclosed by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 23rd, Meritz Securities' average salary for all employees in the first half was 108.9 million KRW. It is the first securities firm to pay more than 100 million KRW in the first half alone, and the average annual salary is expected to exceed 200 million KRW this year. The first half salary alone has surpassed the annual salary level of general companies. According to an analysis by Saramin, a job matching platform, of the salaries of employees at 84 of the top 100 large corporations by sales excluding financial companies that disclosed their 2019 business reports, the average salary per person was 83.58 million KRW. This is even less than Meritz Securities' average first-half salary of 87.1 million KRW last year.

In other securities firms, the average salary for all employees in the first half is less than 100 million KRW, but certain job groups exceed this amount. The headquarters sales positions (male) responsible for institutional mergers and acquisitions (M&A), initial public offering (IPO) research, and other tasks are representative. In Meritz Securities, the average annual salary for this job group in the first half was 236 million KRW, already exceeding 200 million KRW. They account for 23.9% of the total employees (1,454), totaling 348 people. The average salary for headquarters management positions (male), which number 186 (12.7%), was also recorded at 114 million KRW.

At Korea Investment & Securities, headquarters sales positions (male) accounting for 18.4% of all employees received 160 million KRW in the first half alone. The average salary for this job group (14.0%) at KB Securities was 128 million KRW. NH Investment & Securities also had 18.0% of employees receiving an average of 116 million KRW. Additionally, among the top 10 securities firms by total assets as of June, nine firms had certain job groups with average first-half salaries exceeding 100 million KRW, including Samsung Securities (120 million KRW), Hana Financial Investment (108 million KRW), Shinhan Financial Investment (103 million KRW), Kiwoom Securities (103 million KRW), and Mirae Asset Daewoo (102 million KRW).

Meanwhile, the average first-half salary per employee among the top 10 domestic securities firms by equity capital and total assets was 71.8 million KRW. Korea Investment & Securities and Hana Financial Investment ranked second and third with 88 million KRW and 76.4 million KRW, respectively, following Meritz Securities. Eight out of the 10 securities firms exceeded 60 million KRW in first-half salaries alone.

The average salaries of these 10 securities firms have been increasing significantly over the past three years. Meritz Securities and Korea Investment & Securities saw increases of over 50%, while KB Securities, Shinhan Financial Investment, and Kiwoom Securities rose by more than 40%.

Average Salary per Employee in the First Half of the Year at the Top 10 Domestic Securities Firms by Equity Capital and Total Assets (Source: Each Company's Semiannual Report)

Wage Gap Persists... Gender Differences Within Job Groups Larger Than Differences Between Job Groups

The wage gap between genders within securities firms was found to be significant. Female employees' first-half salaries were about half those of male employees. Among the top 10 domestic securities firms by equity capital and total assets, the average first-half salary per person was 86.83 million KRW for men and 49.41 million KRW for women, with women earning only 56.9% of men's salaries.

Compared to the first half of 2017, the increase rates were similar at 36.6% for men and 36.4% for women, but the gap remained. At that time, the ratio of women's average salary to men's average salary was 57.0%.

There were also differences by company. At Meritz Securities, the industry leader in salary levels, the average first-half salary for men was 131.47 million KRW, but the average for women was 53.86 million KRW, only 41.0% of men's. Even among the top 10 securities firms, companies with relatively smaller gender wage gaps still had women's average salaries at only the 60% range of men's average salaries. KB Securities was 66.0%, Daishin Securities 65.8%, and Hana Financial Investment 62.0%, respectively.

This gap is attributed to the compensation system in the securities industry, which is centered on performance bonuses. It is analyzed that the higher proportion of male employees in sales or operations departments, which are performance bonus-driven, causes this disparity.

At Mirae Asset Daewoo, which has the largest number of employees, as of the end of June, there were 713 male employees in the headquarters sales division, three times the 235 female employees. In contrast, the number of employees in management and support divisions was similar, with 744 men and 712 women.

Although there are pay differences depending on the job, gender gaps were also observed within the same job. In Mirae Asset Daewoo's headquarters sales division, the average first-half salary was 102.32 million KRW for men and 63.11 million KRW for women. This difference was larger than the wage gap between the entire headquarters sales positions (92.6 million KRW) and management/support positions (60.05 million KRW).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.