The financial sector offers some exciting, rewarding, and challenging but very lucrative career prospects for finance professionals. Offering vast opportunities within the field and a multitude of specialties to choose from.
By pursuing finance or a finance-related degree you are unlocking your finance career potential. But before you begin a career in the finance industry, it’s important to know what your ultimate career goals are in the field, which sector you want to work in and whether you will need to study further or attain additional certificates to reach those goals.
So, whether you’re thinking of joining the banking and financial services sector, insurance sector, or entering the world of investment banking all these sectors offer financial professionals a chance to earn more money.
The most in-demand jobs in South Africa’s accounting and finance sector include finance managers, tax accountants, financial accountants, analysts, internal auditors, corporate finance specialists, and treasury accountants.
Five Highest Paying Professions in South Africa’s Finance Sector & the Average Annual Earnings for Each of these Jobs
1. Chief Financial Officer
Chief Financial Officers are responsible for directing the organization’s financial operations. As top-level company executives, their duties include developing and executing annual budgets and spending plans. They also ensure that the company’s financial activities comply with relevant standards and regulations. This role often requires a professional and academic background in accounting, banking, or financial management. According to payscale.com CFO’s earn an average salary of R1,244,885 per year.
2. Finance Director
Financial Directors coordinate all financial aspects of the business. They maintain necessary financial records and prepare reports on the company’s financial health and drive the company’s financial strategy. According to a payscale.com report, Finance Directors earn an estimated average salary of R1,108,249 annually.
3. Actuarial Manager
The estimated average Actuarial Manager salary in South Africa is R 900 000 per year according to talent.com. These managers analyze a variety of risks and their consequences for the business. They perform financial projections, implement plans, prepare budgets, and report risk base capital and actuarial reports for support, and they also help prepare facilities for product implementation.
4. Finance Manager
Finance Managers are among the top-paying jobs in the financial industry, with an estimated average of R939 383 per annum. They are responsible for all financial aspects of the business including risk management, planning, bookkeeping, and financial reporting.
5. Portfolio Manager
Portfolio management is one of the most prestigious roles in the entire finance industry. with estimated annual earnings of R900 000 annually Portfolios Managers oversee institutional and retail client investments. They recommend personalised investment strategies and specific investment decisions to clients, and they usually have discretionary power in executing those strategies to fulfill the clients’ goals.
6. Investment Banking Analyst
Investment banking analysts research the investment histories and practices of both companies and individuals and make recommendations for portfolio diversification or expansion based on both investment history and current economic and financial trends. They also act as intermediaries between clients, attorneys, and other financial experts and bankers to solidify investment options and advise clients. This position pays an estimated annual salary of R 685 577 per year in South Africa according to a report on indeed.
The take-home for each of these positions depends on the cost of living in the province you work in. Generally, you’re more likely to earn more money in Johannesburg than in Cape Town, where the salaries are generally highest.
The best cities to find Finance Vacancies in South Africa
Johannesburg and Pretoria offer job seekers the most opportunities, as can be expected while Cape Town lands itself the third spot and lastly Durban.
Where To Find Finance Job Opportunities
Financial jobs exist at almost every company in almost every industry. If you’d like to secure a job in finance, You can do so by joining a recruitment agency that will assist you in securing your dream jobs, such as Communicate Recruitment, Conova Financial Recruitment, Kontak Recruitment, and Robert Walters.
These recruitment agencies receive posts from companies (clients) and they handle all the tasks of identifying top talent and presenting the top candidates to clients.
You can also visit these websites to browse the latest finance jobs in the market.
- sagovjobs.co.za
- www.pnet.co.za
- za.indeed.com
- www.careerjet.co.za
- Career24
Indeed, there are many opportunities within the finance field and it’s one of the most paying sectors, but jobs in this field often come with greater responsibilities and few challenges. As a Finance professional you need to be aware of the challenges that you are likely to face once your career has started so that you can prepare yourself for them.
A list of the top Three Challenges currently faced by finance professionals:
1. Embracing Automation and Technology Developments
With the digital transformation of businesses, financial professionals are also experiencing a radical shift in how they perform their duties as financial systems like AI and automation are capable of performing duties traditionally by finance professionals. Finance professionals who adapt to these new systems will be in high demand as they are the ones who will help businesses implement and use these technologies.
2. The Need to Learn New Skills
For the second year in a row, the need for new skills is one of the most anticipated business challenges in the financial industry. Changes in technology and best business practices put substantial pressure on finance professionals to keep pace with new marketplace standards. Therefore, to remain competitive in the future job market need to learn new skills.
3. Cybersecurity Concerns
Accounting information is one of the hottest targets for hackers. With the rapid increase in cybersecurity attacks, it is the responsibility of accounting and finance professionals to have all the necessary measures in place to protect financial data against the latest security risks.
Finance professionals need to understand the challenges facing their industry because only then can they come up with suitable strategies to overcome them. By continuously advancing your knowledge and skills in line with the latest industry trends and developments you will be able to tackle all these challenges and remain competitive.