# Financial Risk Specialists

US SOC code 13-2054. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/13-2054

Also called: Risk analyst, Risk manager, Market risk analyst, Credit risk analyst, Quantitative risk analyst.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **63,850** US financial risk specialists, with median pay of **$117,330** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230117005105/en/GARP-Celebrates-25th-Anniversary-of-Flagship-Financial-Risk-Manager-FRM-Certification) of **8,000** from 1997, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for financial risk specialists: Climate risk integration + AI/ML model governance, 2019 to 2024.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 7.4% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=13-2054&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **58.3%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Financial Risk Specialists employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1974
- Latest US employment: 63,850 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Latest US median pay: $117,330 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [7]
- Outlook: +7.4% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [22]

### All 8 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1997 | 8,000 (estimate) | $58,000 (estimate) | Est., GARP 25th Anniversary Press Release (employment) [1]; Est., Dionne, G. (2013) (pay) [5] |
| 2003 | 22,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Dionne, G. (2013) [2] |
| 2010 | 45,000 (estimate) | $72,000 (estimate) | Est., Fernandes, G. et al (employment) [3]; Est., BLS OEWS May 2010 (pay) [6] |
| 2021 | 54,320 | $100,000 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 55,800 | $102,120 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 55,290 | $106,090 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 56,320 | $106,000 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [4] |
| 2025 | 63,850 | $117,330 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [4] |

## Sources (56)

### Employment series

1. [GARP 25th Anniversary Press Release — FRM certification launched 1997 with 110 candidates; GARP founded 1996 with 250 early members](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230117005105/en/GARP-Celebrates-25th-Anniversary-of-Flagship-Financial-Risk-Manager-FRM-Certification), Business Wire / GARP
2. [Dionne, G. (2013) — "Risk Management: History, Definition, and Critique" (Risk Management and Insurance Review)](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rmir.12016), Wiley / American Risk and Insurance Association
3. [Fernandes, G. et al. — Bank stress tests and risk management hiring: risk positions as share of bank job postings tripled 2010-2019 (NBER Working Paper 30867)](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w30867/w30867.pdf), National Bureau of Economic Research
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

5. [Dionne, G. (2013) — "Risk Management: History, Definition, and Critique" (historical context on profession development 1990s)](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rmir.12016), Wiley / American Risk and Insurance Association
6. [BLS OEWS May 2010 — Financial Analysts (13-2051) median annual wage $74,350 (predecessor category, risk specialists not separately reported)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
7. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
8. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

9. [Basel Committee on Banking Supervision — History of the Basel Committee (BIS.org)](https://www.bis.org/bcbs/history.htm), Bank for International Settlements
10. [Dionne, G. (2013) — "Risk Management: History, Definition, and Critique" — derivatives use for risk management arose in the 1970s, expanded in 1980s](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rmir.12016), Wiley / American Risk and Insurance Association
11. [Corporate Finance Institute — Basel Accords: History, Pillars, and Implementation (Basel I 1988)](https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/career-map/sell-side/risk-management/basel-accords/), Corporate Finance Institute
12. [Financial Crime Academy — Development of Risk Management History (first dedicated risk management department at Merrill Lynch 1987)](https://financialcrimeacademy.org/development-of-risk-management-history/), Financial Crime Academy
13. [Value-at-Risk.net — RiskMetrics history: J.P. Morgan launched RiskMetrics in October 1994, published methodology and data freely](https://www.value-at-risk.net/riskmetrics/), Value-at-Risk.net (Holton)
14. [GARP 25th Anniversary Press Release — FRM certification launched in 1997 with 110 candidates; GARP founded 1996 by Marc Lore and Lev Borodovsky](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230117005105/en/GARP-Celebrates-25th-Anniversary-of-Flagship-Financial-Risk-Manager-FRM-Certification), Business Wire / GARP
15. [Federal Reserve History — Near Failure of Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM 1998)](https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/ltcm-near-failure), Federal Reserve System
16. [Corporate Finance Institute — Basel III Overview: Basel II published 2004, introduced IRB approach and operational risk capital](https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/career-map/sell-side/risk-management/basel-iii/), Corporate Finance Institute
17. [Federal Reserve SR 26-2 (2026) — Revised Guidance on Model Risk Management (supersedes SR 11-7, April 4, 2011): independent human validation function requirement](https://www.federalreserve.gov/supervisionreg/srletters/SR2602.htm), Federal Reserve System
18. [Fernandes et al. — NBER Working Paper 30867: risk management positions tripled as share of bank job postings 2010-2019 at stress-tested institutions](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w30867/w30867.pdf), National Bureau of Economic Research
19. [NGFS — Climate Scenarios for Central Banks and Supervisors (first edition 2019, updated framework mandated by ECB and Fed)](https://www.ngfs.net/en/publications-and-statistics/publications/ngfs-climate-scenarios-central-banks-and-supervisors), Network for Greening the Financial System
20. [GARP — AI and Machine Learning in Risk Management: 73% of risk professionals report AI tools expanded complex analysis capacity (2025 practitioner survey)](https://www.garp.org/risk-intelligence/technology/ai-machine-learning-risk-management), Global Association of Risk Professionals
21. [BLS National Employment Matrix — 13-2054 Financial Risk Specialists 2024-34 projections (6.5% growth, 64,400 by 2034)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=13-2054&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Forecasts and exposure studies

22. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 13-2054 Financial risk specialists (2025: 66.0 thousand; 2035: 70.8 thousand; +7.4%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=13-2054&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
23. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 13-2054.00, human-rated β 0.583)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

24. [BIS — History of the Basel Committee (Herstatt failure 1974 as founding event)](https://www.bis.org/bcbs/history.htm), Bank for International Settlements
25. [Financial Crime Academy — Development of Risk Management History: first dedicated risk management department at Merrill Lynch 1987](https://financialcrimeacademy.org/development-of-risk-management-history/), Financial Crime Academy
26. [Wikipedia — James Lam: first CRO at GE Capital, August 1993](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lam), Wikipedia
27. [Value-at-Risk.net — RiskMetrics history: launched October 1994, freely distributed; 1996 Basel Amendment adopted VaR for market risk capital](https://www.value-at-risk.net/riskmetrics/), Value-at-Risk.net
28. [GARP 25th Anniversary Press Release — GARP founded 1996, FRM launched 1997 with 110 candidates; 97,000 FRM holders by 2021](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230117005105/en/GARP-Celebrates-25th-Anniversary-of-Flagship-Financial-Risk-Manager-FRM-Certification), Business Wire / GARP
29. [Federal Reserve History — Near Failure of Long-Term Capital Management 1998](https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/ltcm-near-failure), Federal Reserve System
30. [Federal Reserve SR 26-2 — Revised Guidance on Model Risk Management (supersedes SR 11-7 issued April 4, 2011)](https://www.federalreserve.gov/supervisionreg/srletters/SR2602.htm), Federal Reserve System
31. [NGFS — Climate Scenarios for Central Banks and Supervisors (April 2019, first edition)](https://www.ngfs.net/en/publications-and-statistics/publications/ngfs-climate-scenarios-central-banks-and-supervisors), Network for Greening the Financial System

### Predecessors & successors

32. [BLS SOC 2018 revision: 13-2054 Financial Risk Specialists carved out of 13-2051 Financial Analysts as a separate code in 2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes132054.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
33. [Value-at-Risk.net — History of Value-at-Risk: quant analysts at major banks developed early risk measurement systems in the 1980s-1990s](https://www.value-at-risk.net/riskmetrics/), Value-at-Risk.net
34. [Corporate Finance Institute — Basel Accords history: Basel I (1988) drove banks to build credit risk measurement capacity in existing credit analyst functions](https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/career-map/sell-side/risk-management/basel-accords/), Corporate Finance Institute
35. [Dionne, G. (2013) — "Risk Management: History, Definition, and Critique": integrated risk management emerged in the late 1990s, drawing on actuarial methods](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rmir.12016), Wiley / American Risk and Insurance Association
36. [Wikipedia — James Lam: first CRO at GE Capital (1993); CRO title spread across major financial institutions through 2000s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lam), Wikipedia

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-24
- [O\*NET 30.3 — Financial Risk Specialists (13-2054.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/13-2054.00), accessed 2026-05-24
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Financial Risk Specialists (2024): +8% projected employment growth 2024–2034](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/financial-risk-specialists.htm), accessed 2026-05-24
- [GARP — AI & Machine Learning in Risk Management: practitioner survey and tool adoption (2025)](https://www.garp.org/risk-intelligence/technology/ai-machine-learning-risk-management), accessed 2026-05-24
- [McKinsey — The Future of Risk Management in the Digital Era: model governance and climate risk as highest-growth competencies (2025)](https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/risk-and-resilience/our-insights/the-future-of-risk-management-in-the-digital-era), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Citigroup — AI in Finance: Bot, Bank & Beyond: 54% of financial-sector jobs have high automation potential (2024)](https://www.pymnts.com/personnel/2024/citi-ai-will-impact-finance-sector-job-market-the-most/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Training The Street — State of AI in Finance 2025 Global Outlook](https://trainingthestreet.com/the-state-of-ai-in-finance-2025-global-outlook/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [LinkedIn Skills on the Rise 2026 — AI risk and modeling skills carry documented wage premium](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/24/the-fastest-growing-skills-in-the-us-according-to-linkedin-theyre-career-currency.html), accessed 2026-05-24
- [OCC / Federal Reserve / FDIC — Interagency Guidance on Model Risk Management (2026): independent validation function requirement and model risk governance for AI/ML models](https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/bulletins/2026/bulletin-2026-13.html), accessed 2026-06-21
- [NGFS — Climate Scenarios for Central Banks and Supervisors: physical and transition risk scenario framework mandated by regulators](https://www.ngfs.net/en/publications-and-statistics/publications/ngfs-climate-scenarios-central-banks-and-supervisors), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Bloomberg — PORT Enterprise Risk: AI-enhanced multi-asset risk analytics platform](https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/products/portfolio-and-risk-analytics/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [MSCI — RiskMetrics RiskManager: VaR, CVaR, stress testing, and factor risk decomposition for institutional portfolios](https://www.msci.com/data-and-analytics/risk-management-solutions/riskmetrics-riskmanager), accessed 2026-06-21
- [IBM OpenPages with Watson AI — Operational risk and GRC platform with AI-generated risk heatmaps and RCSA automation (2025)](https://www.ibm.com/products/openpages-with-watson), accessed 2026-05-24

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.