An industry survey shows that the city’s investment professionals saw compensation almost doubling, leading the Asia Pacific region last year. 

In the 2010s, it was assumed, or even a given, that the average Managing Director at any reasonably sized bank based in Hong Kong was taking – at the very least – US$1-2 million in a year.

Often, that was before the thought of any bonus, or incentive-based compensation in industry parlance, was a twinkling in anyone’s eye. But then came 2019 and the protests, COVID-19, and it all went a bit quiet.

Near Doubling

Now, Nasdaq-listed international executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles claims that the city is back and making it all look like nothing ever happened.

According to their tenth annual regional compensation survey distributed to the media yesterday, investment professionals in Hong Kong took in the highest median compensation region-wide, with what they called «managing partners» earning $2.1 million in 2024, nearly double the $1.2 million they were paid in 2023.

Diversified Portfolios

Some of that is likely attributable to the almost 20 percent gain in the Hang Seng last year after it finally managed to shake off four years of decline, along with a measure of Magnificent 7 big tech S&P 500 magic as a bit of icing on top.

Heidrick & Struggles, however, maintained it was because of a strategic shift to diversified portfolios. Reading between the lines, that sounds like a good deal more 60/40 portfolios out there as accumulators and decumulators are put out to pasture, which is probably a good thing in the larger context.

General Optimism

The survey, which looks at trends and sentiment in the three years leading up to 2024, indicated that market sentiment across the entire region was on the rebound.

It maintained that it was because the private landscape continued to mature, with compensation models being increasingly tailored to models that better aligned with global and regional markets.

Bright Spot in Australia

The market down under was the happiest, it seems, with 71 percent of respondents pointing to better market conditions when compared with those seen 18 months earlier when it was just at 30 percent.

The results also infer that «robust» hiring drove the significant growth in compensation across the Asia Pacific region, with 63 percent of the respondents reporting increased base pay and half seeing higher bonuses.

Diverging Trends

The survey is, however, about investment professionals, and not bankers or wealth managers per se. 

On that basis, they saw different trends between the regional and global funds, with the latter seeing higher base compensation at all levels of rank except at the partner or managing director level.

Regional funds saw pay stall or even fall at partner, managing director, and managing partner levels, while it was up for associates, senior associates, vice presidents, and principals.

Goldilocks Market

Australia, already buoyed in optimism, also seemed to have the best mid-level balance in the region, with associates, senior associates, and vice presidents experiencing strong increases in median total cash compensation.

But, at the end of the day, it looks like Hong Kong is getting back to being Hong Kong –and everyone can start leering jealousy at those banking types in the bar or restaurant across from you. Because, yes, they are easily getting paid well more than a million US a year - again.