Understanding how quant traders calculate average salary in the UK is crucial if you’re entering the quant finance field, negotiating offers, or planning your career path. In this article, we’ll break down the typical components of quant compensation, the data sources used, methods to compute averages, and the key factors that cause huge variation. We also compare two calculation strategies, offer sample numbers for entry vs senior levels, and give FAQs based on recent recruitment data.
TL;DR
The average salary for a Quantitative Trader in the UK is around £200,000–£220,000/year (total compensation) depending on role, experience, and bonus.
Indeed
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Glassdoor
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Glassdoor UK
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Base salary vs total compensation (including bonuses, profit share) is very different; many averages are skewed by high bonus payouts.
Major cities (especially London) pay significantly more, but high living costs and taxes offset part of that.
Two main methods: aggregate reported salaries (from platforms like Glassdoor, Indeed) vs. survey / firm-reported compensation data.
What You Will Learn in This Article
By the end of this article, you will be able to:
Know how quant trader salaries are averaged and what data sources are used.
Understand the difference between base salary vs total compensation, and how bonuses / profit shares are folded into “average salary.”
See real UK numbers for quant traders at different levels (entry, mid, senior) and in different cities.
Be able to benchmark your expected salary using the right method and understand what influences the numbers.
Make informed decisions when negotiating or choosing roles based on expected compensation in your location and seniority.
Table of Contents
Components of Quant Trader Compensation
Data Sources for UK Quant Salary Information
Methods for Calculating Average Quant Salaries
Method A: Aggregated public reports
Method B: Survey / firm-reported / registry filings
UK Salary Benchmarks: Entry, Mid, Senior Levels
How City, Firm, Role Raise or Lower the Average
Comparison Table: Two Strategies for Average Salary Estimation
Tips to Accurately Estimate Your Salary
FAQ
Conclusion & Best Practice Recommendation
Components of Quant Trader Compensation
When quant traders or researchers talk about salary or compensation, it’s not just the base. Key components include:
Base Salary: Fixed annual pay before bonus.
Bonus / Discretionary Pay: Performance-based, firm P&L or desk performance.
Profit Share / Equity / Deferred Pay: For certain roles, especially at prop shops or high-frequency trading firms, a share of profits or equity can make up a big piece.
Other Pay & Perks: Signing bonus, relocation, pension, benefits, allowances.
Taxes and Deductions: UK tax rates (income tax, NI), bonuses taxed differently sometimes; net vs gross matters.
Any “average salary” must clarify: is this base only, or base + bonus + profit share + other compensations? Many published averages are for base + bonus.
Data Sources for UK Quant Salary Information
To calculate average quant salaries, the following sources are commonly used:
Salary Platforms: Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn; employees or ex-employees fill in their salaries. Eg: Glassdoor reports UK quant trader average ~ £209,810.
Glassdoor UK
Recruitment Agencies / Reports: Firms like Barclay Simpson publish quant / risk / quants salary reports. Eg: Barclay Simpson shows quant trader and quant analytic roles spanning wide ranges.
Barclay Simpson Associates
Job Postings: Analysis of advertised roles in London / UK to see base + bonus structures.
Company / Regulatory Filings: Some quant firms’ financial statements, profit reports, or registry filings report average pay for staff or quant specialists. Eg: Optiver UK average pay of ~ £600,000 for employees.
FN London
Methods for Calculating Average Quant Salaries
Here we compare two main methods, their trade-offs, and recommended use.
Method A: Aggregated Public Reports
What It Is:
Pull all reported salaries from platforms (Glassdoor, Indeed etc.), filter by role (“Quant Trader”), region (“UK” or specific city), then compute averages (mean, median, percentile ranges).
How To Do It:
Collect a large sample (n ≥ 30 desirable) of base + bonus combos.
Clean out extreme outliers or identify them separately.
Compute metrics: median, 25th/75th percentiles, and possibly the 90th percentile to see top-end earnings.
Advantages:
Easy to do, transparent.
Reflects what people self-report, including base + bonus.
Allows percentiles that show spread.
Disadvantages:
Self-reporting bias: people with higher salaries more likely to report (skewing high).
Often base + bonus are not broken out, so unclear what portion is base vs incentive.
Sample sizes may be small, especially for higher seniority levels.
Method B: Survey Data / Firm / Filings
What It Is:
Use data from recruitment reports (recruitment firms), or filings by firms or official datasets, which often have verified compensation numbers and broader coverage.
How To Do It:
Use published reports (e.g. Barclay Simpson, industry salary guides).
Barclay Simpson Associates
Use corporate filings (for firms in registry that disclose staff pay / average wages).
Combine with job search site data for localized average.
Advantages:
More reliable and less biased (especially when sample sizes are large).
Usually includes base, bonus, and profit share breakdowns.
Can be stratified by seniority, firm type etc.
Disadvantages:
Often delayed (reports may lag by 6-12 months).
Less granular (may aggregate many roles under “quant” umbrella which have very different pay scales).
Sometimes lacks the details of smaller/less well-known firms.
UK Salary Benchmarks: Entry, Mid, Senior Levels
Here are typical numbers based on available recent data. Note: these are estimates; exact pay will depend heavily on firm, role type, experience, and location (London vs elsewhere).
Level Typical Base Salary Range Total Compensation (Base + Bonus etc.)
Entry / Graduate Quant Trader ~ £90,000 – £140,000 ~ £120,000 – £200,000
Mid Level (3-7 years) ~ £140,000 – £250,000 ~ £250,000 – £400,000 or more (with bonus / profit share)
Senior / Director Level ~ £250,000 – £400,000+ Potential total comp (including profit share) in excess of £500,000 – millions in rare top cases (e.g. HFT or prop firms)
Sample UK Averages from Recent Data
Glassdoor reports an average Quantitative Trader salary in the UK of £209,810/year.
Glassdoor UK
In London specifically, Glassdoor data shows median total pay ~ £218,407 with typical range between ~£139,647 to ~£350,406.
Glassdoor
Indeed’s reported average base from some postings is ~ £152,855 for London quant trader roles.
Indeed
Recruitment reports (Barclay Simpson) suggest quant roles overall (trader, researcher, quant dev) in UK can go from ~ £65,000 base for more junior / analyst roles up to £400,000+ for experienced quant traders / portfolio managers.
Barclay Simpson Associates
How City, Firm & Role Raise or Lower the Average
Factors that shift your expected average:
City / Region
London: highest salaries, especially for senior quant roles, prop trading, high frequency trading (HFT).
Other UK cities (Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Edinburgh): lower base salaries, less bonus/profit share, fewer prop/HFT firms.
Firm Type
Prop shops / HFT / market makers tend to offer large profit share and discretionary bonuses.
Banks / Sell-side / Asset managers have more fixed structures, possibly lower upside.
Seniority & Experience
Roles with leadership, desk responsibility, or research publication track (PhD etc) fetch much higher pay.
Experience in rare specialisms (e.g. machine learning, statistical arbitrage, crypto quant) increases leverage.
Education & Credentials
PhD holders or specialist quantitative/ML degrees often command premium.
Also credentials/types of programming skills (C++, Python, low latency) matter.
Market Conditions / Firm Performance
A firm’s profit in a given year affects bonus / profit pool size and hence total compensation.
For example, Optiver in the UK reported average pay ~£600,000 in 2024 for its UK staff.
FN London
Comparison Table: Two Strategies for Average Salary Estimation
Aspect Strategy A: Aggregated Public Reporting Strategy B: Survey / Firm-Reported Data
Sample Size Depends on number of self-reports; may be small or biased Usually larger and from recruitment / internal firm data
Data Freshness More recent (if people update Glassdoor etc.) May lag (annual reports, surveys delayed)
Breakdown of Components Often aggregate; might not distinguish base vs bonus Better breakdowns possible (base, bonus, equity etc.)
Outlier Sensitivity Can be skewed by a few high earners Surveys often cap extremes or adjust for them
Reliability Less reliable for senior roles due to fewer reports More credible especially for senior / high compensation roles
Recommended Use: Use both combined. Use aggregated reports for immediate ballpark, and survey/firm data for validation especially if negotiating or benchmarking senior roles.
Tips to Accurately Estimate Your Salary
Clarify whether a quoted “salary” includes bonuses and profit share or is base only.
Look at percentile ranges (25th, 50th, 75th, 90th) to understand spread, rather than only average.
Adjust estimates for tax, cost of living, especially if comparing London vs other UK or international cities.
Consider market trends: rising demand for ML/AI, regulatory changes, competitive profits in HFT firms sometimes push compensation upward in certain years.
Account for non-salary components like signing bonuses, deferred compensation, equity, which are significant in many quant roles.
FAQ
Q1: What is average entry-level quant trader salary in UK?
For entry or junior quant trader roles (fresh graduate, 0-2 years), the typical base salary ranges from £90,000 to £140,000, depending heavily on firm type and whether bonuses or small profit share is included. Total compensation (with bonus) for good firms in London might push this to £120,000-£200,000. Note: at smaller firms or non-HFT roles, entry may be lower. (Based on job postings from Indeed and Glassdoor.)
Glassdoor UK
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Indeed
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Glassdoor
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Q2: Which UK cities offer best quant trader salaries?
London is undisputedly the top pay hub in the UK for quant roles. Senior roles in London in prop trading or HFT firms often receive the highest total compensation. Other cities (Manchester, Edinburgh, Cambridge, etc.) offer quant roles but generally with lower base and bonus. The delta can be tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds depending on seniority. Salary and bonus structure is much richer in London.
Indeed
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Barclay Simpson Associates
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Glassdoor
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Q3: What affects quant trader salary in UK the most?
From data and experience, the biggest influences are:
Seniority / Role Responsibility — desk leader, team lead, or roles managing strategy have much higher comp.
Firm Type — Prop shops/HFT/market makers vs banks or asset managers. Profit share in prop shops inflates totals.
Performance of firm / profitability — good years lead to large bonus pools.
Specialisation and rare technical skills — ML expertise, low latency systems, high frequency / systematic strategies.
Education and credentials — having PhD or advanced degrees helps, as does published research or strong quant/CS credentials.
Q4: How to negotiate higher salary as quant trader in UK?
Gather data from recent similar role postings in London.
Use percentile data (Don’t accept offer near 25th percentile if you have 3-5 years experience).
Highlight rare technical skills and performance track record.
Ask explicitly about bonus/profit share, not just base.
Consider negotiating deferred compensation, equity, or signing bonuses.
Conclusion & Best Practice Recommendation
To summarize:
When calculating average quant trader salary in the UK, always clarify what “average” means: base only, or all comp.
Use a mix of data sources: Glassdoor / Indeed for real-time employee reports, recruitment agency reports for broader trends and senior levels.
For benchmarking your own compensation or negotiating, focus especially on London roles, consider your seniority, firm type, and skill set.
Best Practice Recommendation: For most people seeking reliable estimates, use Survey / Firm-Reported Data (Method B) for senior roles and large compensation, and use Aggregated Public Reporting (Method A) for entry and mid-level roles. Doing so gives you a range rather than a point estimate, and allows you to understand upside potential vs what’s realistic.
If you like, I can prepare a UK Salary Estimation Calculator Tool template for quant traders, so you can plug in your experience, skills, and location to see your approximate market value. Would that be helpful?
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