How To Become A Fixed Income Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a fixed income manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A fixed-income manager designs appropriate investment strategies to secure a regular stream of income and capital gains for clients. They analyze, selects, trades, and monitors fixed income securities for clients. They make investors understand how the system works when they put a specific amount, and they make sure they receive their expected earnings. Fixed income managers set goals with clients and ensure that they attain them.

Specific duties of fixed income managers include initiating and establishing new client relationships, identifying over and undervalued securities, expanding selective aspects of risk management techniques, and organizing weekly balance sheet meetings. They should have financial management skills, analytical skills, great math ability, communication skills, and attention to detail.

Fixed Income Managers work full-time 40 hours per week from Monday to Friday between 9 and 5. They may work additional hours in the evenings and during the weekends, depending on client schedules.

ScoreFixed Income ManagerUS Average

Salary

8.1

Avg. Salary $118,511

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.5

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.34%

Asian 10.15%

Black or African American 7.57%

Hispanic or Latino 14.49%

Unknown 4.10%

White 63.35%

Gender

female 26.04%

male 73.96%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

9.5

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.3

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a fixed income manager

Explore fixed income manager education requirements

Most common fixed income manager degrees

Bachelor's

74.9 %

Master's

20.8 %

Doctorate

1.6 %

Start to develop specific fixed income manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Fixed Income	17.15%
Client Relationships	7.84%
Risk Management	7.46%
Securities	6.39%
Derivative	5.76%

Complete relevant fixed income manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New fixed income managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a fixed income manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real fixed income manager resumes.

Research fixed income manager duties and responsibilities

Manage operational functions for MBS sales force.
Work with DTC to automate uploads of CDS/IRS trades electronically.
Manage derivatives, cash equities, ETF's and other equity-link products.
Manage operational build out of credit derivatives (CDS, CDX and IRS) designing workflows and building operational risk controls.

Apply for fixed income manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a fixed income manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

What is a fixed income manager and how to become one

Fixed income manager career paths