How Much Do CFA® Charterholders Earn in Toronto in 2023?
Whether you are a student considering different career paths, a current CFA® Candidate, or an experienced professional, you may be wondering how you’ll be compensated for putting in the time and effort to obtain the CFA designation in Toronto, Canada.
This article combines data from various sources to provide average guidance for salary and compensation for Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation holders in general as well as how compensation and earnings change with years of experience. This article focuses on Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Ontario, Canada. Note that there will always be variance in compensation between titles, companies, and locations, however this article should be accurate to serve as a general guide for 2023 numbers.
CFA Charterholder Earnings in Toronto
The median annual earnings of a CFA charterholder in Toronto are $153K while the mean is $226K. Generally, the median is a more realistic estimate as the mean can be influenced by outliers. This does not mean however that most CFA charterholders will be limited to an annual salary or earnings of $153K. It is entirely possible that once achieving a certain level of income with which they are comfortable, many CFA charterholders choose to focus on other things such as working hours or flexibility. Further, Toronto CFA charterholders earn $102K and $269K annually at the 25th and 75th percentiles respectively. What this means is that of all Toronto CFA charterholders, 1 in 4 will earn $102K annually or less while 1 in 4 will earn $269K or more. Most Toronto CFA charterholders will earn somewhere between $102K and $269K annually, as evidenced by the median salary or earnings of $153K per annum.
CFA Charterholder Earnings in Toronto by Years of Experience
While the above section analyzes CFA charterholders in Toronto as a whole, it is important to understand how long it will take to arrive at the median $153K annual earnings mentioned above. Below, earnings of Toronto CFA charterholders are shown by experience level. Note that in order to obtain the CFA designation, candidates must submit a minimum of 4,000 hours or 36 months of qualifying work experience. Therefore, the figures displayed for candidates with 2 years or less of experience are generally for non-CFA designated individuals such as CFA candidates. This $74K annual earnings is a fair expectation for a new grad or someone fairly early on in their career in a CFA-relevant field. The salary/compensation reported in the 3 to 5 year experience bucket of $101K per annum is reflective of a relatively newly designated CFA charterholder.
Based on the above data, it is evident that paths taken by CFA charterholders can be lucrative in Toronto. While the starting salaries of ~$65K (total compensation of 74K) may not sound incredible, there is a clear and quick ramp-up in earnings during the first several years into one’s career if following a typical CFA-relevant work path. For finance or business students graduating from university at the age of 22, a six-figure income is realistically achievable well before turning 30.
An important point to note is that the data presented above assumes that one takes on continuously senior roles as they accumulate years of experience. Below, the assumed seniority allocated by years of experience is presented:
It is important to acknowledge that there are not many Execute and Senior Executive level positions in existence and therefore not everyone will be able to achieve the $325K+ annual compensation reported above, even as they pass 15 years of experience. On the other hand, annual compensation well above $200K per annum should be achievable for the majority of CFA charterholders in Toronto, as even median Manager level compensation falls above that mark.
CFA Charterholders in Toronto Earn Big Bonuses
A key takeaway from the above data is that bonuses tend to make up a significant portion of CFA charterholder earnings. As a portion of total compensation, bonuses tend to make up ~10% of annual earnings at the Entry Level, which is fairly standard for most office jobs in Toronto. This number jumps up to ~25% for Professionals with 3-7 years of experience before accelerating to ~50%+ or more of compensation at the Senior Manager and above levels.
Bonuses are often a significant portion of CFA charterholder compensation because they work in revenue-generating (front office) roles in the financial industry, which in itself is typically characterized by high risk and high reward. Many financial firms, such as investment banks, hedge funds, and asset management firms, offer bonuses as a way to incentivize their employees to perform at a high level and to reward them for generating revenue and profits for the company. For example, if an investment bank is able to successfully complete a large merger or acquisition (M&A) deal, the investment bankers involved may be awarded a significant bonus based on the fees generated from the deal.
Overall, bonuses are a significant portion of CFA compensation because they serve as a way to reward high-performing employees and incentivize them to continue generating revenue and profits for the company.
