7 Levels of Finance Jobs From a Fintech CEO | Tom Sosnoff

I'm going to show you how to go from a $50,000 a year job to a $500,000 a year job. My team of engineers and quants

job. My team of engineers and quants have spent the last year programming a model to research exactly what skills you need to be paid as much as possible.

I'm Tom Sausnoff. I started my career in the early 80s at Drexel Burnham in New York City at a $30,000 a year entry-level job before moving on to trading options and worked my way to

founding two fintech companies each worth over a billion dollars. These are

the seven compensation levels of jobs that I've personally seen as a finance veteran. Level one, the pawn. Welcome to

veteran. Level one, the pawn. Welcome to

the grind. Salary range $40,000 to $65,000 a year. These are your finance clerks, bank clerks, loan servicing specialists. These roles have one thing

specialists. These roles have one thing in common: high volume, low leverage, and little to no long-term upside. Most

of the people in these roles are fresh out of college and just looking to get a foot in the door. They have little expertise other than showing up and following orders. The hours are

following orders. The hours are reasonable, 40 to 45 hours a week. None

of this sounds too bad. That is until you find out that there's a ceiling on how much value you can create in this role. You're processing 200 loan

role. You're processing 200 loan payments a day or handling customer complaints. The work is necessary.

complaints. The work is necessary.

Finance can't function without it, but it's replaceable and it's reflected in your salary. But if you're in this role,

your salary. But if you're in this role, do not lose hope as moving from level one to level two is actually one of the easiest jumps in finance. You need two to three years of experience, maybe a

certification and the ability to interact with clients or demonstrate some analytical thinking. The hard part isn't the jump itself. It's that many people stay here for a decade because they don't realize they're on a track

that goes to nowhere. In your first couple of years when you're networking or whatever you're doing, if you have any opportunity at all, jump all over it. Everybody has these chances and most

it. Everybody has these chances and most people don't take them. With me

personally, I only lasted six or seven months on an entry level before somebody said to me, "Hey, you want to move to Chicago?" And I'm like, "Done." Level

Chicago?" And I'm like, "Done." Level

two, the night. Now you're a personal banker at the 70 to $95,000 range. A

loan officer, a financial adviser, associate, a banking analyst. You're the

first person who gets to touch client money and make recommendations. This is

where finance actually begins. You need

sales ability, relationship management, basic financial analysis. You're having

conversations about people's mortgages, their retirement accounts, their business loans. The stakes are much

business loans. The stakes are much higher now, and the hours somewhat reflect that. 45, 50 hours, maybe still

reflect that. 45, 50 hours, maybe still relatively balanced, but you've got clients calls at night, weekend events for networking. But this increased work

for networking. But this increased work is incentivized. You start receiving

is incentivized. You start receiving incentive pay. Base plus commissions,

incentive pay. Base plus commissions, base plus bonus. Your income isn't just your salary anymore. It's tied to your performance. This is great, but you now

performance. This is great, but you now have made it to the real filter. To move

from level two to level three, you need to prove you can do more than client-f facing work. You need analytical chops.

facing work. You need analytical chops.

You need to understand financial modeling. Many people plateau here. They

modeling. Many people plateau here. They

become career professional bankers or loan officers, and that's fine, but they're capped around that $100,000 level unless they move up. One of the nice things about interacting with people that either have a lot of money

or decent positions is that you have an opportunity to impress them. Level

three, the bishop. You're a corporate financial analyst, a risk analyst, a compliance analyst, or a business banking officer with a salary of, let's say, 85,000 to 120,000. You move from client interaction to technical

expertise. You're the person building

expertise. You're the person building the models, evaluating the risk, ensuring regulatory compliance, pitching the insurance policies. You become

advanced in Excel and financial modeling. If you're in risk management,

modeling. If you're in risk management, you're modeling value at risk and stress scenarios. You're expected to work 50 to

scenarios. You're expected to work 50 to 55 hours, sometimes more during those closed periods of an audit season.

You're expected to produce highquality work consistently. Mistakes at this

work consistently. Mistakes at this level cost money, and your budget could miscalculate millions. But a corporate

miscalculate millions. But a corporate financial analyst making 115 grand in Chicago is a good life. And that is why many people get stuck at this level. The

work is standardized. You're really good at it, but so are thousands of other people. to break through to the next

people. to break through to the next level, you need to specialize even further or you need to start generating revenue. And that requires a jump deep

revenue. And that requires a jump deep into specialization. I think at this

into specialization. I think at this level, sometimes you run into research specialists, certain kinds of quants, data scientists, people that have a fairly unique skill set that are

incredibly bright, but they get a little awkward about the next step. They're

more than capable, but they get a little uncomfortable. Level four, the rook. Now

uncomfortable. Level four, the rook. Now

you're a power player. You're an equity research analyst covering specific sectors. Salaries could range between

sectors. Salaries could range between 110,000 to 150,000. An investment

analyst evaluating funds. A financial

engineer building quantitative pricing tools. A treasury analyst managing

tools. A treasury analyst managing corporate liquidity. You're not just

corporate liquidity. You're not just competent. You're one of the best in

competent. You're one of the best in your specific domain. Equity research

analysts need to understand industries better than the companies themselves.

Quants need advanced mathematics and programming skills. Financial engineers

programming skills. Financial engineers need to build tools that can price complex derivatives accurately. And this

skill doesn't happen by accident. You're

working 50 to 65 hours. If you're in equity research, you're working weekends and before earning season. If you're a quant, you're debugging models at midnight. The intensity is real and it's

midnight. The intensity is real and it's reflected in the salary. A financial

engineer tops out at 150 plus because the technical skills command a premium.

You've carved out a valuable niche.

You're hard to replace, but there's a ceiling. you're still supporting revenue

ceiling. you're still supporting revenue generators, the traders, the bankers, the portfolio managers. They're using

your research, your models, your analysis to make money. What I've

experienced in the past is that people that come from that technical mode don't realize how hard it is to sell and they don't realize how hard it is to create revenue. I found over the years that

revenue. I found over the years that creating revenue is the biggest challenge. These are the hardest people

challenge. These are the hardest people to find. And not because they're the

to find. And not because they're the smartest, not because they're the most analytical, just because they have an a certain skill set, a certain knack for closing. Level five, the queen. This is

closing. Level five, the queen. This is

where everything changes. You're an

option trader tied to P&L. You're an

investment banker doing M&A deals.

You're a portfolio manager managing assets. Average salary could range from

assets. Average salary could range from 130,000 to 230,000. Every single role at this level is judged by one metric. How

much money did you make or manage?

Investment bankers need technical skills, sure, but they also need the ability with clients to close deals.

Portfolio managers need to generate alpha. You work all the time, 60, 70

alpha. You work all the time, 60, 70 hours a week, possibly, sometimes 100 hour weeks during live deals. Trading

might be 50 hours of market time, but require constant monitoring. The

compensation structure changes completely at this level. An investment

banker might have a $140,000 base, but make 210,000 with bonuses in a good year. A portfolio manager is the same.

year. A portfolio manager is the same.

When you're managing half a billion dollars and making 220 plus options, but the pressure is immense. One bad quarter and your bonus disappears. One lost

client and your book shrinks. The jump

from level five to level six isn't about working harder. It's about leading teams

working harder. It's about leading teams and managing other producers. Many

people at level five never want to move up because they'd rather stay close to the action than manage people. Level

six, the king's guard. You're a finance director leading an entire finance function. A riskmanagement director

function. A riskmanagement director overseeing enterprise risk. Salary range

180 to 280,000. You've made it to leadership. You're no longer doing the

leadership. You're no longer doing the work. You're directing it. You need to

work. You're directing it. You need to manage teams of analysts, underwriters, and producers. You need to set strategy,

and producers. You need to set strategy, allocate resources, and take responsibility for outcomes. You work

maybe less than 55 to 65 hours, but the cognitive load is heavier. You're in

back-to-back meetings making high stakes decisions, managing up to executives and down to your teams. A corporate controller at 260,000 has a major responsibility. But notice, even at the

responsibility. But notice, even at the high end, you're not breaking 300K unless you're at a massive institution.

You've made it to senior leadership. You

have influence, respect, a team, and a real strategic responsibility, but you're still an employee. You don't own equity. You don't have carried interest.

equity. You don't have carried interest.

You're well compensated for your labor, but you're not building wealth. And this

is where the final jump to level seven happens. You have to stop being an

happens. You have to stop being an employee and become an owner. When we

think about people at level seven, you need smarts and you need the ability to lead. It's not a role for people that

lead. It's not a role for people that are necessarily operational in nature.

It's more a role for people that have leadership skills. The assumption here

leadership skills. The assumption here is everybody's smart, but I like smart with leadership skills for that role more than smart with operational skills.

Level seven, the king. You're a VC or a hedge fund manager earning carried interest on billions. Or like me, you're a fintech CEO. Salary range could be 250 to 500 plus. You're not just managing

money. You're deploying capital in ways

money. You're deploying capital in ways that generate outsized returns. You need

vision. You need risk tolerance. You

need the ability to see opportunities others miss. This job has become your

others miss. This job has become your life. You work when you need to work.

life. You work when you need to work.

Some weeks it's 40 hours. Some weeks

it's 100 hours. Hedge fund managers earn two and 20. 2% management fees and 20% of profits. Private equity has carried

of profits. Private equity has carried interest. Prop traders keep a percentage

interest. Prop traders keep a percentage of their P&L. When you're managing a billion, 2% is 20 million in fees alone.

You're no longer an employee. You're not

paid for your time or even your performance. You're paid for your

performance. You're paid for your capital leverage. This is where your

capital leverage. This is where your wealth is actually built in finance.

You're at the top and it's good to be king. Comment below and check out

king. Comment below and check out lostog.com to learn more about the essential software designed to optimize your annual compensation and to level up your