How much money do you earn? And how do you spend it?

J

Jehosefat

Expert Member
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
1,766
CamiKaze said:
Does this involve SAS for credit risk portfolios?
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All our models are built in MATLAB and our credit portfolio management calculations are done in a vendor bought system (not SAS). Although I know some of the other banks use SAS for both the models and CPM.
 
Cius

Cius

Executive Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
8,347
Jehosefat said:
Personally I work for a bank. Corporate and Institutional Banking generally pays a lot better than Retail Banking. To clarify, "Front Office" are the guys who are actually trading/making deals etc. Basically the people who make money for the bank and because its pretty easy to measure how much value they add, they can get really big bonuses if they do some big deals or have a good year.

I'm a quantitative analyst dealing with risk models. Basically means I do a lot of maths and stats to try to measure and predict the level of risk that the bank is taking. And as much as I say the back office is usually more chilled, this year has been a dog show. Up until the end of September I had worked at every public holiday and at least 1 day of almost every weekend.
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Yep, can back this. Back office is pretty rewarding in investment banking at much lower risk than front office. I see headcuts on the trading floor all the time where I work. The support areas tend to be safer with good salary/benefits without the crazy pressure/stress. Don't get me wrong though, its still fairly stressful and hard work, but not as much as being a trader. FYI I work as a development manager on one of the major trading platforms. Mainly python dev. The system I work on though generates about a billion rand of profit a year though so its serious stuff that is constantly evolving and that absolutely cannot have down time. That is where my stress comes from. Regression testing issues from years of traders ramming in half tested projects into the system. Some seriously big personalities in investment banking that you have to learn to deal with. A lot of the guys I work with are quant developers as well, they are fairly rare but very useful. I am more on the pure dev side with only a passing familiarity with pricing and modeling.

Also for the interest of the community from what I have seen developers working for investment banks earn good salaries and bonuses if you are good are typically 1-3 months salary depending how the bank did. Management in that area you can get up to 50% annual salary in bonuses. Traders on the other hand if they exceed budget can be getting multiples of their annual salary. On the other hand if they are under budget they can get no bonus. Its a much higher risk/reward game being front office. Its more like a sales or marketing job and is all about the bottom line. Are you earning or not. I am friends with a lot of traders and they all complain about how unreasonable targets are. Even in a massive downcycle like now the bank will always push up targets by 20% even when that is clearly an impossible target to reach and that screws up their bonuses royally.
 
M

Messugga

Honorary Master
Joined
Sep 4, 2007
Messages
12,746
Cius said:
Yep, can back this. Back office is pretty rewarding in investment banking at much lower risk than front office. I see headcuts on the trading floor all the time where I work. The support areas tend to be safer with good salary/benefits without the crazy pressure/stress. Don't get me wrong though, its still fairly stressful and hard work, but not as much as being a trader. FYI I work as a development manager on one of the major trading platforms. Mainly python dev. The system I work on though generates about a billion rand of profit a year though so its serious stuff that is constantly evolving and that absolutely cannot have down time. That is where my stress comes from. Regression testing issues from years of traders ramming in half tested projects into the system. Some seriously big personalities in investment banking that you have to learn to deal with. A lot of the guys I work with are quant developers as well, they are fairly rare but very useful. I am more on the pure dev side with only a passing familiarity with pricing and modeling.

Also for the interest of the community from what I have seen developers working for investment banks earn good salaries and bonuses if you are good are typically 1-3 months salary depending how the bank did. Management in that area you can get up to 50% annual salary in bonuses. Traders on the other hand if they exceed budget can be getting multiples of their annual salary. On the other hand if they are under budget they can get no bonus. Its a much higher risk/reward game being front office. Its more like a sales or marketing job and is all about the bottom line. Are you earning or not. I am friends with a lot of traders and they all complain about how unreasonable targets are. Even in a massive downcycle like now the bank will always push up targets by 20% even when that is clearly an impossible target to reach and that screws up their bonuses royally.
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Python? Wouldn't happen to be Front Arena, would it?
 
F

FarligOpptreden

Executive Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2007
Messages
5,396
Mike Hoxbig said:
It happens more frequently when you're running your own business. In corporate it's usually the exception rather than the norm.

I actually wouldn't mind being in your position to be honest. Once you start breaking even, showing some profit and the business starts to grow, the sweat will pay off in the end and you'll free up much more free time than if you had to move back into corporate. Cos if you think about it, we're not really working for money, we're working to free up more retirement time...
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Well, salary sacrifices, no leave and accumulated debt is taking its toll on me to be honest. Business is kinda picking up the past couple of months, but the pessimist in me wants to hoard the money for the lean times so I don't have to go through the difficult months I've experienced again.
 
M

MagusKAN

Active Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Messages
48
Age: 26
Degree: Mechanical Engineering
Industry: Mining
Years of Experience: 2.5
CTC: 40k/m [including company medical aid, pension, group life, disability cover and funeral benefits; excl. bonuses] (I am reaching the end of my training programme and am on track for a 3x raise. I just have to pass the GCC exams)

Spending:
Interest Free Loan (partial bond payment; company perk): R500
Medical Aid (my contribution to company medical aid): <R200
Bond: R5600
Car: R2800
Fuel: R2800-R3400
Insurance (car, tracker, mortgage protection): R1142
Electricity: R250
Groceries, health and beauty: ~R2000
Cellphone and Internet: R1249
Entertainment (DSTv EasyView and Netflix): R139
Gym (Samsung Workout Trainer app): R97
Rates, Taxes and Levies: R1259
Bank Fees: R262.10
Cash (untracked): R500

Rest:
Easy Equities tax-free savings ETF portfolio
Short-term savings (FNB 30-day notice account)
Giving
Extra car payment with what's left
 
Last edited:
Thor

Thor

Honorary Master
Joined
Jun 5, 2014
Messages
44,236
MagusKAN said:
Age: 26
Degree: Mechanical Engineering
Industry: Mining
Years of Experience: 2.5
CTC: 40k/m [including company medical aid, pension, group life, disability cover and funeral benefits; excl. bonuses] (I am reaching the end of my training programme and am on track for a 3x raise. I just have to pass the GCC exams)

Spending:
Interest Free Loan (partial bond payment; company perk): R500
Medical Aid (my contribution to company medical aid): <R200
Bond: R5600
Car: R2800
Fuel: R2800-R3400
Insurance (car, tracker, mortgage protection): R1142
Electricity: R250
Groceries, health and beauty: ~R2000
Cellphone and Internet: R1249
Entertainment (DSTv Extra and Netflix): R139
Gym (Samsung Workout Trainer app): R97
Rates, Taxes and Levies: R1259
Bank Fees: R262.10
Cash (untracked): R500

Rest:
Easy Equities tax-free savings ETF portfolio
Short-term savings (FNB 30-day notice account)
Giving
Extra car payment with what's left
Click to expand...
That's a bit low on electricity?

I pay nearly R800 p/m
 
S

shadow_man

Executive Member
Joined
May 27, 2005
Messages
6,200
MagusKAN said:
Age: 26
Degree: Mechanical Engineering
Industry: Mining
Years of Experience: 2.5
CTC: 40k/m [including company medical aid, pension, group life, disability cover and funeral benefits; excl. bonuses] (I am reaching the end of my training programme and am on track for a 3x raise. I just have to pass the GCC exams)

Spending:
Interest Free Loan (partial bond payment; company perk): R500
Medical Aid (my contribution to company medical aid): <R200
Bond: R5600
Car: R2800
Fuel: R2800-R3400
Insurance (car, tracker, mortgage protection): R1142
Electricity: R250
Groceries, health and beauty: ~R2000
Cellphone and Internet: R1249
Entertainment (DSTv Extra and Netflix): R139
Gym (Samsung Workout Trainer app): R97
Rates, Taxes and Levies: R1259
Bank Fees: R262.10
Cash (untracked): R500

Rest:
Easy Equities tax-free savings ETF portfolio
Short-term savings (FNB 30-day notice account)
Giving
Extra car payment with what's left
Click to expand...

120k pm at 26... (assuming you get your 3x raise).

Seems about right... I foresee a lot of hookers and blow in this gentleman's future.
 
R

RichardG

Honorary Master
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,697
Put an offer to purchase property today and the owners accepted the offer. Going to pay the full amount in cash... Will be left with nothing afterwards
 
Thor

Thor

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Jun 5, 2014
Messages
44,236
RichardG said:
Put an offer to purchase property today and the owners accepted the offer. Going to pay the full amount in cash... Will be left with nothing afterwards
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Correction you will be left with what the house is worth its an asset
 
M

MagusKAN

Active Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2013
Messages
48
jsheed_sa said:
120k pm at 26... (assuming you get your 3x raise).

Seems about right... I foresee a lot of hookers and blow in this gentleman's future.
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SWMBO would castrate me!

The 120k is fair considering that I'd have to be on standby and that I always have to be within 50km of the mine when I am.

I don't see myself working at a mine for more than 10 years though. I'm using this opportunity to build some wealth.
 
Hamster

Hamster

Resident Rodent
Joined
Aug 22, 2006
Messages
42,928
Thor187 said:
Correction you will be left with what the house is worth its an asset
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Correction. You'll be left with what the house is worth as an asset minus all the debt and interest you'll be paying over the next two decades.
 
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