A Chartered Accountant (CA) is responsible for auditing accounts, giving advice, financial reporting, and taxation, etc. whereas an Investment banker is responsible for raising capital for their clients.
An Investment banker assists their clients in debts, equity selling, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&As). They both are jobs in the finance field but differ a lot. This article let us see who earns more and which job type (CA or Investment banker) has a good working environment.
Salary comparisons of CA and Investment banker
The average salary of a CA in the United States is 90,400 USD per year. The salaries range from 48,800 USD to 136,000 USD. The average salary of an Investment banker in the US is 96,000 USD per year with the highest salary going up to 140,000 USD per year.
According to LinkedIn, the average base salary of a CA in India is 6 lakhs per annum with the total average compensation goes up to 6.25 lakhs per annum whereas the average salary of an Investment banker in India has an average base salary of 11.9 lakhs per annum. The total average compensation of an Investment banker in India can go up to 12.2 lakhs per year.
As one can see from the aforementioned stats that an Investment banker earns a little more when compared to CA’s. However, personal performances also matter, it is likely that you may encounter a hard-working CA earning a lot. There is a lot to earn in life besides money, like having a social life. Let us compare the working culture of both these professionals.
Work Environment of CA vs Investment Banker
We have to compare the equivalent job types in both the fields like analyst vs accountant, Multinational Corporation (MNC) vs domestic, etc. A CA has to study a lot and has to pass exams before stepping into the field. He is later paid well if he qualifies the recruiting parameters.
An Investment banker could be anybody, an individual with an MBA degree can be a good Investment banker. However, there are certification programs and online Investment banking courses available on the internet which can boost the skills of an Investment banker.
A CA has to audit the bank statements and it is a tedious job whereas an Investment banker is concerned with raising capital, assisting their clients and they can deal with their clients with a phone call too. A CA can have crazy work hours but one can wrap up the work remotely if he/she is an Investment banker.
But success in every field depends on the personal performance of any individual. If you can adapt to changes quickly and keep gaining experience, you will grow in any field.
Which field is good to choose?
Both fields have their unique pros and cons. One should rather focus on his/her own skills and qualifications to choose between CA and an Investment banker. If you are good at numerology and analytics and are ready to work and study hard, you can start your CA course.
If any individual has completed his/her bachelor’s degree and is interested in deal structuring and management, has strong networking skills, he/she can opt for an Investment banker course. One must try to find a job role according to his/her skills to grow faster in that particular field. One must also try to analyze the working culture and environment of any job before doing it.
Conclusion
In the context of earning, there is not much of a difference between a CA and an Investment banker but in order of complexity of the job and the pay according to that, an Investment banking role may be preferred. This article was all about the comparison of a CA and an Investment banker on various parameters.
