Understanding the Role of Vice President in Banking
Is there a more well-known title in banking than “Vice President”, or “VP”? Patrick Bateman is one. A slew of the supporting cast at Stratton Oakmont in The Wolf of Wall Street is another. And it’s the go-to title for sensationalist twitter users who have an opinion on “THE VICE PRESIDENT OF GOLDMAN SACHS”.
A Mid-Level Title with Impressive Compensation
In reality, being a VP is a pretty mid-level title in finance. If all goes well, you’ll reach it about six years out of university, maybe seven, so around 27 or 28 years old. But, despite their ages, VPs are very well paid.
Data from our 2026 Compensation & Lifestyle Report, informed by our global survey of almost 3,000 financial services professionals, polled some 500 VPs across the world’s financial services centers, including New York, London, Singapore, and Hong Kong – and this is what we learned about them.
By far the best paid VPs in the world work in hedge funds. Our report found that the average hedge fund VP earned $222k in salary, on average, and an eye-watering $657k in bonuses, on average. Total compensation was therefore $879k.
Generally, front-office VPs who work in investment banking and sales & trading earn pretty good money, too: $373k and $465k in total compensation, respectively. VP titles are pretty standardised in investment banking, but in sales & trading could refer to a wide range of experience and function.
The worst-paid VPs, predictably, were in middle- and back-office support functions: FROC (Finance, Risk, Operations, and Compliance) VPs earned $130k salaries and $18k bonuses on average, while technologist and quantitative finance VPs earned $127k salaries and $53k bonuses on average, much less than their revenue-generating peers.
Perhaps expectedly, the best paid VPs in the world are in the US. On average, American VPs reporting both the highest average salaries ($200k) and the highest average bonuses ($129k) in the world.
UK and European VPs earned good pay packages – 80% and 70% of what Americans earn, respectively – but pay was particularly poor for VPs based in APAC or GCC. In these regions, pay was only 48% and 47% of what American VPs earned, respectively.
Interestingly, pay satisfaction was not distributed as pay was. While 46% of American VPs thought they were paid fairly, the highest proportion in our survey, the lowest pay satisfaction was in the UK – where just 30% of VPs thought they were paid fairly. Other regions reported between 31% and 35% pat satisfaction.
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Conclusion
VPs in the banking industry play a crucial role, with compensation varying based on industry and region. While American VPs tend to earn the highest salaries and bonuses, satisfaction with pay varies across different regions. Understanding the nuances of VP pay can provide valuable insights for professionals in the finance sector.
