The forex and financial trading companies are growing at a tremendous pace globally. It has also led to the rise of hiring in the industry. But, how much are these companies paying executives? Which roles offer the most amount of money? Or even, which countries are the best for FX industry executives?

Opportunity to Compare Salaries

FinTop Consulting, a staffing firm in the B2B FX industry, exclusively shared with Finance Magnates the findings of a survey that revealed the salaries and in-demand skills sought by companies in the industry.

According to the survey, trading industry executive directors remain the highest-paid staff. Their annual salary ranges from €‎100,000 to €‎150,000 in Cyprus, while companies in the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates pay up to €‎227,000 (GBP 200,000) and €215,000 (AED ‎840,000), respectively.

The salaries of Chief Financial Officers, Chief Risk Officers, and Chief Marketing Officers remain within a similar range in Europe: Cypriot companies offer salaries of €‎120,000 and the UK ones up to €‎170,000 (GBP 150,000). The CFOs of the UAE-based firms earn the most at up to €‎205,000 (AED 800,000) a year.

All of them are base salaries and do not include bonuses and commission payments .

"The survey is an opportunity for companies to compare their salary structure with the current market. From an employee retention perspective, this allows companies to ensure that they are meeting market rate and, if they have the budget to do so, increase their employees' salaries to the higher end of the brackets," said Reece Pawsey, a Director at FinTop.

The High Cost of Living in London

The survey data was prepared by FinTop using internal data (current client and candidate network) and external research. It arrived when the trading industry was hiring aggressively at all levels.

In addition, it highlighted that salaries across the industry have remained stagnant for the last two consecutive years.

Apart from the executives, the heads of accounting and finance departments in UAE-based firms earn the most. Head of Compliance, Dealing, and Sales in the UK offices also receive higher salaries than the other two countries. Sales-centric roles often include a significant portion of the compensation from commissions.

While the salaries of the back office employees are comparable in the UAE with other departments, there is a noticeable gap in their wages in Cyprus and the UK.

One of the key reasons for UK companies to ace the compensation race is the high cost of living in the city of London. According to WorldData, the cost of living in the UK is much higher than in the UAE and Cyprus.

Moreover, talent acquisition is a significant challenge for companies. However, these challenges vary with location due to factors like the cost of living directly affecting the salaries of candidates.

"As you can see from the salary survey, the UAE is typically leading the way in terms of what region pays the highest salary," Pawsey added. "From a workforce perspective, I believe that Cyprus is still one of the most desirable locations for Retail and Institutional Brokers due to the large, highly skilled work force available. In recent years we have seen market-leading FinTechs expand to Cyprus, such as Revolut and Nuvei."

Also, a fair advertisement of salaries simplifies the recruitment process. It helps to build the trust of the potential employee and reduces ghosting due to a lack of details for the job.

Effective Recruiting Process

Wages are certainly key in hiring the sort of talent that brokers need to bolster their operations, but not the only one. "Recruiting requires a lot of time and resources from employers. Therefore, The job description should be accurate and worded in a marketing and attractive way to attract as many relevant candidates as possible," said Lilach Avraham, the Founder & CEO of JobShop, a recruitment and placement company for Fintech companies and CFD brokers.

"It is desirable that the recruitment process be short and not cumbersome. If the recruitment process consists of several stages, it is useful to combine the stages so that when the candidate arrives for the first interview, and if he or she is relevant, they will immediately move on to the next stage," she added.

"Of course, if the candidate passed the interview stages successfully, it is important to talk to the candidate's recommenders and hear from them, but beyond the good things the recommender will probably say about the candidate, it is also important to ask the recommender what he thinks the employee needs to improve on and how it would be appropriate to manage and motivate the employee if he or she starts working for you."

With salaries remaining stagnant and hiring becoming a challenge for brokers across the globe, it remains to see which direction 2024's survey will take.