Life with a career in finance

Financial services can have a big impact on the world, whether that’s environmentally, socially, technologically. If you have interests in any of these areas, a career in finance can be a great sector for you to work in.

A few people in financial services talk about their work-life balance below, watch the video.

	Position	Salaries can start from
Potential salary With a career in financial services there is great earning potential. This will depend on a variety of factors including the level you are working at, the qualifications you have achieved, the city you work in and the experience you have.	Private wealth manager	£75,000 - £85,000+
	Compliance officer	£34,000 - £41,000+
	Paraplanner	£28,000 - £55,000+
	Financial planner	£61,000 - £90,000+
	Financial risk analyst	£32,000 - £126,000+
	Financial controller	£55,000 - £81,000+
	Investment administrator	£25,000 – £60,000+

Juwon, Fiona and Burhan talk about work-life balance in financial services

Work-life balance

The rise of flexible and remote working can help to maintain a positive work-life balance. With any job, a work-life balance is important for both your physical and mental wellbeing. Some companies offer employees remote working, where you can work from home or anywhere remotely. This means that you could spend the time you would usually spend travelling to and from work, on something else – even if it is just more time sleeping!

There are many hybrid roles available too, which is a combination of some days in the office and some days remote working. Find out more about maintaining a positive work-life balance on our mental health portal.

Maintaining a good work-life balance in many professions can be difficult, like in financial services with the typically longer working hours. The introduction of flexible, remote and hybrid working does provide an opportunity to maintain a healthy work-life balance and your working hours will vary throughout your career.

Typical working hours

Financial services is a sector known for longer working hours, however the hours you will work can vary depending on the position you hold and the company you work at. Some organisations offer flexible working hours, allowing you to start earlier or later which can help you to have a positive work-life balance.

You may work longer hours in front-office roles at banks, in corporate finance or in mergers and acquisition positions. Shorter hours may be required of a back-office role, such as a compliance officer, this is all dependent on the factors mentioned above.

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A few organisations operate on an output basis, which means instead of completing a certain amount of hours working each day, you are required to complete certain tasks each day or week. The amount of time you spend to complete the tasks is up to you, as long as they are completed.

Sources: Working hours in banks - Financial services working hours

Diversity

In financial services, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is important in representing those in the sector and also in recruiting and retaining the best talent.

There are sector wide initiatives aimed at improving elements of diversity in the sector, The Women in Finance Charter is a commitment that has been made by many companies to better the gender balance in the financial services. The Race at Work Charter whilst not exclusive to financial services, companies in the sector can still sign up to it and commit to improving the equality of opportunity in the workplace for those from non-white backgrounds.

The sector does have more men than women working in it at this current moment in time and the majority of senior positions are held by people with a white background, yet we are seeing a lot of progress in the diversity of the sector.

There are a full range of protected characteristics to recognise within DEI and this is slowly becoming a priority for companies throughout the sector.

Many large firms have internal working groups made up of their employees focus on improving DEI.