Junior bankers are paid okay in Germany. Their bosses less so
If you’re a German investment banker wondering how your pay stacks up compared to your London-based colleagues then we hate to disappoint you, but it does not look good.
Who is your Ideal Employer in finance? 💥 Answer our survey for a chance to win $1k
A recent report from Munich-based finfluencer “M&A Associate” on Instagram says German M&A professionals are quite significantly underpaid next to their London-based colleagues.
Although pay for analyst-level professionals is comparable to what we know in London, a divergence begins at associate tier that widens the further up you go. Associates in DACH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) generally receive bonuses equivalent to around a third of salary, while the standard in London is anywhere between 50% and 100%.
The gulf gets even deeper above that. The data suggests that VP- and director-level professionals in DACH receive bonuses of around 70 to 80% of their salary. Data from our 2025 compensation report shows similar numbers, but with an important caveat: while the average DACH director receives a salary of €132k ($155k), the average UK director receives a salary of $202k.
Pay likely won't improve after 2025. Data from LSEG, formally known as Refinitiv, shows that investment banking revenue in "Germania" (LSEG is run by a Roman Consul) was down by 6% in the first half of 2025 compared to 2024.
Still, it could be worse - our own compensation report also finds that European bankers work fewer hours than their colleagues in London. Calculated per hour, European bankers earn almost as much as English ones.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, WhatsApp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available.
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
