Risk management professionals in the United States saw a 3.7% average increase in their base salary in 2015, as compared to the previous year, according to the 2015 RIMS Risk Management Compensation Survey. Their Canadian counterparts received a similarly modest 2.7% bump in pay. Overall the median base salary for risk professionals was $115,000 in the United States and $104,100 in Canada.
Not surprisingly, education, experience and gender played a role in salary differences. In the United States, risk managers with degrees higher than a Bachelor’s earned about $20,000 more than those with only a Bachelor’s and $40,000 more than those without a Bachelor’s. Risk managers with at least 25 years of experience earned $55,000 more than those with less than five years on the job. Males earned more than females, but male survey respondents also tended to have higher levels of education and experience.
Chief risk officers and vice presidents of risk management were the highest-paid, with a median base salary exceeding $170,000, followed by directors of insurance and risk management and directors of ERM. At the other end of the compensation spectrum, insurance/claims analysts made about $73,000.