How Much Do Grads Make at Trading Firms in Australia? [2023]

To uncover how much grads are raking in, we turned to our trusty jobs database and identified all graduate roles at trading firms in the past twelve months (Sep 2022-2023). Here's what we found.

Summary

The main things that factor into trading firm salaries are.

• The firm itself: Most firms offer the same salary to all their grads regardless of the stream. So how much you're paid will mainly depend on which firm you get into.
• Your role: Some firms offer corporate support roles like HR. These pay less than roles that involve trading and engineering.

Here's the breakdown:

• Trading firms pay an average of $155k.
• Trading and engineering roles at trading firms pay an average of $159k.
• Corporate support roles at trading firms pay an average of $70k.

Finally, while not reflected in our data, you can also expect fat bonuses and generous perks. How generous? As an example, Citadel Securities (a hedge fund and trading firm) recently sent their employees around the world on a trip to Disney World!

Now let's dive into the salary data, firm by firm.

Trading & engineering roles

Note: Average pay refers to the average of the pay ranges that employers provided. So if an employer told us they paid $50-60k for a role, it would show up here as "$55k."

#1 Optiver – up to $250k

#2 Susquehanna International Group – up to $250k

#3 IMC Trading - up to $200k

#4 VivCourt Trading – $170k

#5 Akuna Capital – $155k

#6 Tibra Capital – $150k

#7 Eclipse Trading – $130k

#8 Maven Securities – $113k

Corporate support roles

While there weren't many, some corporate support roles did show up.

Why do trading firms pay so much?

Trading firms top salary rankings here in Australia. But why do they pay so well?

• Because they can: The world of trading is one where a minute detail can result in millions, even billions, of dollars of profit or loss. Trading firms play within this high-stakes environment, and when successful, the rewards are huge!
• Because they need to: Employers know that the competition for grads who are good at math, statistics, and software development is fierce, so they pay accordingly. They also know that trading is no walk in the park, so paying grads well is key to retaining them. (Let's face it, you'd be more inclined to crunch endless streams of numbers if you knew your take-home pay was enough to bathe in.)

What next? 

Ready to dive into the world of trading?

1. Learn more about what trading firms actually do and what graduate traders are up to every day.
2. Search for open roles and apply away!