Expat package for mid level actuary

[DimSumBond]

Agree with the above that you probably have room to negotiate.

However, I disagree with the above that you will have a worse quality of life here than the UK - it's not possible to know that unless you tell us where you're living in the UK. If you're living in London and either living very centrally or alternatively spending a lot on commuting, as long as you don't expect to live in a big place here, you should be in a better net position in HK after tax an essential living costs. However if you're living in a regional city or town it's less clear cut. Don't forget that in the UK there is council tax and the cost of utilities and transportation are high.

Another thing you need to establish is bonuses. In my field bonuses have been much higher in HK than the UK in the 9 years I've been here, which has made a huge difference to the improvement in my financial position.

You will be ahead financially with higher income, lower taxes and no capital gains. A lower quality of life is a given here. I enjoy the simple things in life like not having mysterious liquids dropping all over me.

[jgl]

You will be ahead financially with higher income, lower taxes and no capital gains. A lower quality of life is a given here. I enjoy the simple things in life like not having mysterious liquids dropping all over me.

It's called "air conditioner juice".

[flalji]

Typically, you're looking at between HKD 25k-35k a month for a decent apartment (but it will be much smaller than London). That leaves you approx. HKD50k a month for everything else.
One thing to check is whether you genuinely get a 'housing allowance' or whether it's simply a 'rental reimbursement' scheme - whereby your rent is mostly tax-deductible.

The most important thing is not just years of experience, but your seniority. If you're mid-level (Assistant Manager level), then HKD 70k-80k/month (on a 13 month basis I assume) + bonus (plus other benefits) is pretty ok.

In the banks, VPs would be on approx HKD 800k - 1.2M on base.
Directors then between 1.2M and 1.8M (depending on function, bank, team size, etc)
Then the MDs can be on 2M upwards

Plus you'll get bonus (typically between 15% and 30%+ depending on the company)

Some things to consider:
a) Whether this package is sufficient for you (your circumstances and needs are different to others)
b) If not, try negotiating, but the company can also rescind the offer (although Actuaries are a high demand job currently)
c) many landlords tend to try and increase rent at the end of your contract by 10%-20% on average - so you may be moving a few times every 5 years

the fact that they are willing to bring you over shows that they are either struggling to find talent locally, or they are in a more immediate need. This can help your case.

I also graduated in Actuarial Science in the UK (but didn't pursue the field thereafter) and now work in compensation & benefits in Hong Kong (and was brought over from the UK by my previous bank).

Hope this helps somewhat.

[freeier]

i think dependent on the role as well..

i have a feeling the UK market are more short on actuary than the HK is. HK people has the habit and determination to jump into any field that appears profitable (i.e. they can find a higher paying job). I have seen many non-actuaries and non-lawyers taking the certification and LLB/LLM exams mid career.. These guys are going to push down the market compensation for more generic jobs. unless your skill set experience are very specialized

[Cwaddle]

Thanks everyone for really valuable comments. I am a qualified FIA. I came to a conclusion that i was being low balled by my agent so I have asked the agency to negotiate a comp up by 10k which would put it at 70-80k. There wont be much in terms of bonus at this role (probably 1-2months). I will keep updated of the progress..

[PKS_2000]

HI,

I am currently based in the UK and I have been offered an actuarial role that pays 60-70k pm. (Incl housing allowances) I have around 8 years of experience in the field.
Having spoken to agencies and finding out about the going rates for a similar position, the pay is about the standard pay for any candidates.
Given that I am coming from the UK, i feel a bit underpaid to not be given much allowances for housing. For this level role, how likely is that the company will pay for an additional house allowances, etc if I ask for them? How much would be an acceptable amount for this level role?

whatever money you get, you will be out of budget soon. Rent goes up like crazy and your salary wont go up.

[DimSumBond]

whatever money you get, you will be out of budget soon. Rent goes up like crazy and your salary wont go up.

Landlords are notorious in Hong Kong. They really wanna try their luck and squeeze whatever they can from tenants. 20% rents raises seem pretty normal according to my friends as well.

OP, make sure you know Hong Kong well enough before moving over. Your accommodation is where you will need to compromise the most. Take that small apartment or pay 50% of your pre-tax income on some space that allows you to breathe. Also, transport is exepensive relative to other Asian countries and Uber surge is very very extreme here. Much like the other pricing practices. Hong Kong is a free market with lax consumer laws. You may be surprised here. Eating out IMO is not worth it. Food is expensive and of the lowest quality. Makes sense since rentals are so expensive and restaurants can only charge so much. Like The Red Dot, food is priced in standard ranges. However, prices in Hong Kong are higher.

Try and get closer to the 100k mark. This will allow you to save more and make your time here worthwhile.

[HK_Katherine]

Let me give you the other view as an employer. (Not in your field). We hire people from wherever they come from - HK, Mainland, overseas etc. We have a salary scale which is what we pay people with similar skills. If you happen to be a Thai person who is as good as US person, you are in heaven. If you are a US or UK person you probably think you are underpaid. The market in HK (for my industry, consulting) is lower paid than US or UK but better paid than much of Asia. We do not differentiate where people come from - why should we? They are all competing for the same job. Anyone who insists on being paid a higher amount upsets our salary scales, so we don't offer them the job.

Try applying this kind of thinking to your job offer - it might help. In HK, Finance pays over the odds. Almost everything else is less than other places.

[madoju]

That rent increases at each renewal is a huge misconception. Rental indices for hong kong property market over the past 20 years has gone up by about 45%. Hardly significant if you consider inflation. And for "higher end" apartments the rental increase has been even less. Indeed in a lot of 1500+sq ft places rent has not moved up by much over the past 20 years and the trend will maintain with less and less demand from less expats / reduced benefits eg pilots, mid to higher seniority expats etc.

[TheBrit]

Rental prices haven't gone up only 45% in the past 20 years. That is just clearly bollocks. No idea how those indexes are constructed but maybe they consider social housing too?

Prices in apartments expats will live in are certainly up a lot more than 45% in 20 years.