Credit director vs portfolio manager

The differences between credit directors and portfolio managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a credit director and a portfolio manager. Additionally, a credit director has an average salary of $129,845, which is higher than the $114,671 average annual salary of a portfolio manager.

The top three skills for a credit director include credit policy, oversight and credit card. The most important skills for a portfolio manager are portfolio management, customer service, and risk management.

Credit director vs portfolio manager overview

	Credit Director	Portfolio Manager
Yearly salary	$129,845	$114,671
Hourly rate	$62.43	$55.13
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	10,813	43,192
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	8	8

What does a credit director do?

A credit director oversees an organization's credit-granting activities, ensuring operations adhere to credit policies and standards. Their responsibilities include making decisions in adherence with the company's short- and long-term goals, setting priorities, establishing timelines, conducting regular reviews and assessments, negotiating with external parties, and coordinating managers and supervisors. They may also manage employees to achieve these goals.

What does a portfolio manager do?

A portfolio manager is responsible for managing the clients' investment portfolios to advise them of the best investment plans to achieve their financial goals and objectives. Portfolio managers determine the most suitable options by evaluating the clients' credit score and risk potential and the client's financial background. A portfolio manager should be highly knowledgeable and updated with the recent financial industry changes to decide on investment plans with maximum returns.

Credit director vs portfolio manager salary

Credit directors and portfolio managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Credit Director	Portfolio Manager
Average salary	$129,845	$114,671
Salary range	Between $76,000 And $220,000	Between $66,000 And $198,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Stamford, CT
Highest paying state	Alaska	Connecticut
Best paying company	Aspiration	The Citadel
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between credit director and portfolio manager education

There are a few differences between a credit director and a portfolio manager in terms of educational background:

	Credit Director	Portfolio Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Credit director vs portfolio manager demographics

Here are the differences between credit directors' and portfolio managers' demographics:

	Credit Director	Portfolio Manager
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 72.7% Female, 27.3%	Male, 66.6% Female, 33.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 8.3% White, 64.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 10.1% White, 63.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between credit director and portfolio manager duties and responsibilities

Credit director example responsibilities.

Manage a staff of 50+ FTE.
Partner with small and entrepreneurial business to develop business plans and assist business owners with achieving payroll.
Communicate collection concepts to associates using FDCPA guidelines and the company training guide.
Developed/Share best practices, including collection practices and FDCPA rules/regulations training.
Approve and prepare attorney cases for processing, guardianship, Medicaid eligibility and/or litigation.
Major focus are on risk and DSO, integrating acquisitions, national accounts, high-risk customer visitations/negotiations, and trend identification/remediation.

Portfolio manager example responsibilities.

Manage ongoing existing client needs and assist in credit structuring at loan origination.
Manage over $900M in U.S. Equities and fixed-income; are simultaneously responsible for monitoring over $1.4b in global assets
Manage governance, engage stakeholders and communicate budget impact to senior management.
Conduct post-promotion analysis and manage financial reporting to ensure favorable ROI for clients.
Create PowerPoint presentation books for clients.
Facilitate internal, external, GAAP audits.

Credit director vs portfolio manager skills

Common credit director skills

Credit Policy, 6%
Oversight, 6%
Credit Card, 5%
Process Improvement, 5%
Receivable Portfolio, 4%
Credit Risk Management, 4%

Common portfolio manager skills

Portfolio Management, 10%
Customer Service, 9%
Risk Management, 5%
Project Management, 5%
Financial Statements, 5%
Real Estate, 5%

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Credit Director
Credit Director vs Portfolio Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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