Inside Look: How Salaries and Benefits Compare Across 20 London Investment Banks

London is the financial heart of Europe and home to some of the world’s most prestigious investment banks — from the global bulge-bracket institutions to the elite advisory boutiques. These firms offer some of the most lucrative career opportunities in finance, but compensation varies significantly by firm type, division and seniority. This guide sets out how salaries and benefits compare across London’s investment banking landscape, drawn from publicly available compensation data, industry reports and market benchmarking. For employers hiring in the capital, see our London executive recruitment service. For senior hires at regulated firms, see our financial services executive search service.

The figures here are taken from named, published sources — a compiled London salary guide, press analysis of banks’ regulatory pay disclosures, and the regulators’ own policy statements — and each is linked where it appears. Investment banking pay moves with the market and with each firm’s performance, and individual packages vary widely by division, deal flow and personal ranking — so these ranges are a guide to the shape of the market, not a quote for any specific role or firm.

How Investment Banking Pay Is Structured

Before the numbers, the structure. Investment banking compensation has two main components: a base salary, which is relatively standardised across firms at junior levels, and a bonus, which creates most of the variation in total pay. The bonus is where firm performance, division and individual ranking express themselves — and its share of total compensation rises steadily with seniority.

At analyst level, bonuses are typically paid entirely in cash. As bankers progress, both the size and the deferral of the bonus increase: a growing portion is paid in deferred stock or cash that vests over several years. By Managing Director level, the bonus dominates the package, with a large share deferred. This structure ties senior bankers to the firm and to its long-term performance, and it is why headline ‘total compensation’ figures at senior levels should be read with the deferral in mind.

The regulatory disclosures banks publish show how far the balance tips at the top. eFinancialCareers’ analysis of Goldman Sachs Group UK’s 2024 Pillar 3 disclosures reported that the 542 material risk takers in its investment bank averaged about $1.7m each, made up of roughly $698,000 of salary (down 21% on the year) and $968,000 of bonus (up 39%). Material risk takers are the senior and higher-paid staff whose pay the rules single out, so these are not typical figures for the wider workforce — but they show the direction of travel since the bonus cap was lifted: less fixed pay, more variable pay.

A third element sits alongside base and bonus at senior levels: fixed role-based allowances. These were widely introduced while the bonus cap was in force, as a way of increasing fixed pay without breaching the ratio. With the cap gone, banks have more freedom to shift pay back into the bonus, and the Goldman figures above are one published sign of that happening.

For anyone comparing offers, the practical point is simple. Two packages with the same headline “total compensation” can be worth very different amounts depending on how much is guaranteed salary, how much is a discretionary bonus, how much of that bonus is deferred, over what period, and whether the deferred element is in cash or shares.

Compensation by Seniority

London investment banking follows a well-defined progression, with compensation rising sharply at each level. The ranges below are taken from the Canary Wharfian investment banking salary guide for London and Europe (first published October 2025, last updated May 2026), which compiles data from Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, Wall Street Oasis, PrepLounge and eFinancialCareers surveys and reports 25th–75th percentile ranges in sterling. Treat them as a market guide rather than any bank’s pay scale.

Source: Canary Wharfian, Investment Banking Salary Guide (London/Europe), last updated May 2026. Ranges are 25th–75th percentiles compiled from third-party pay data.

Analyst

The entry point for most, typically joining from university. On the Canary Wharfian figures, first-year London analysts earn a base of around £60,000–£65,000 and total compensation of roughly £75,000–£105,000; by the second and third year, base rises to £65,000–£85,000 and total pay to around £110,000–£165,000. Analyst bonuses are usually paid entirely in cash, and elite boutiques often sit at the upper end of these ranges.

The gap between US and European banks at this level is long-standing. When London analyst salaries were reset in early 2022, eFinancialCareers reported that most US banks were paying second-year London analysts salaries of £80,000 against £65,000 at most European banks, and third-year analysts £95,000 against £70,000. Those are 2022 figures and have moved since, but the pattern of US banks paying above their European peers at junior levels has persisted in later market data.

Analyst hiring is mostly through graduate and internship programmes, but lateral analyst moves — particularly into boutiques and middle-market advisers — are common, and our investment banking analyst recruitment work is largely in that lateral market.

Associate

A meaningful step up, and the level many MBA graduates enter, alongside analysts promoted after two or three years. The Canary Wharfian guide puts London associate base salaries at roughly £95,000–£130,000 and total compensation at about £170,000–£300,000, with a median of around £225,000. At this level a portion of the bonus typically begins to be deferred at the larger banks, while boutiques more often keep it in cash.

Associates are the engine room of a deal team — running models, managing analysts and taking first drafts of client materials — and the gap between a strong and an average bonus starts to widen noticeably here. Firms hiring laterally at this level, through investment banking associate recruitment, usually need to match or improve on a candidate’s expected bonus as well as their base.

Vice President

The level at which pay reflects real seniority and deal responsibility. The Canary Wharfian guide reports London VP base salaries of around £130,000–£180,000 and total compensation of roughly £240,000–£430,000, and its bank-type breakdown puts elite boutique VPs at £350,000–£450,000 against £280,000–£400,000 at bulge brackets. Bonuses represent a large share of the package and a meaningful portion is typically deferred into stock or restricted cash.

VPs run the day-to-day execution of transactions and are increasingly judged on client coverage. It is also the level at which lateral moves become most expensive for a hiring bank, because a VP will usually have several years of unvested deferred awards to replace — one reason VP investment banking recruitment tends to involve more negotiation than earlier levels.

Director and Managing Director

At Director and Managing Director level, London compensation reaches well into the high six figures and, for strong performers at top firms, seven figures. The Canary Wharfian guide puts directors at around £350,000–£650,000 in total compensation and managing directors at £650,000 to £1.8m or more, with MD base salaries of roughly £250,000–£400,000 — so the bulk of the package comes from bonus, and a significant proportion is deferred. At this level, compensation is driven heavily by individual origination and the firm’s overall performance.

Directors (titled executive director or senior vice president at some banks) are expected to bring in business as well as execute it, and MDs are judged almost entirely on the revenue they originate and the relationships they hold. For banks hiring at this level, director-level investment banking recruitment is as much about a candidate’s client franchise and its portability as about their technical record.

How Firm Type Affects Pay

Beyond seniority, the single biggest driver of investment banking compensation is the type of firm. The London market divides broadly into three tiers, each with a distinct pay profile.

Bulge-bracket banks — The global institutions — Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and their peers — set the market standard at analyst and associate level, where base salaries are broadly matched across firms to stay competitive for talent. They offer broad platforms, diverse deal flow and international mobility.

Elite boutiques — Advisory-focused firms such as Rothschild & Co, Lazard, Evercore, PJT Partners and Centerview often pay a premium over bulge brackets, particularly at associate level and above, and frequently pay bonuses entirely in cash. Their compensation reflects higher per-deal economics concentrated among smaller teams.

Middle-market banks — Firms such as Jefferies and Houlihan Lokey typically pay somewhat below bulge brackets at junior levels, with the trade-off often being earlier deal responsibility, broader experience and, in some cases, better hours.

One consistent theme in current market data is that elite boutiques increasingly lead on total compensation, especially at the senior levels where per-deal economics and cash bonuses matter most — a shift from the era when the bulge brackets set the ceiling on pay. The Canary Wharfian guide’s bank-type figures for mid-to-high performers illustrate it: analysts at elite boutiques on £100,000–£150,000 total compensation against £90,000–£140,000 at bulge brackets and £75,000–£110,000 in the group it labels middle market, and VPs on £350,000–£450,000, £280,000–£400,000 and £200,000–£300,000 respectively. Note that the guide places Barclays and HSBC in that lower group, which is closer to what this page calls European and UK universal banks than to US mid-market advisers.

A fourth group: European and UK universal banks

London also hosts the investment banking arms of the large European and UK universal banks — Barclays, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, UBS and BNP Paribas among them. They compete with the bulge brackets for mandates, but their pay has historically sat below the US banks at junior levels, as the 2022 eFinancialCareers figures above show. They can offer strong franchises in particular products or sectors, and some bankers trade a lower headline number for a better-defined route to promotion or a stronger regional platform.

The 20 London firms this guide compares

The table below groups the 20 firms this guide covers by type and summarises, qualitatively, how pay tends to be shaped at each kind of firm. It deliberately avoids firm-by-firm salary figures: public data on individual banks is patchy, self-reported and quickly dated, and the published sources above are more reliable at the level of firm type.

Three pieces of consolidation are worth knowing when reading older pay comparisons. UBS absorbed Credit Suisse in 2023, so data that lists the two separately is out of date. Deutsche Bank completed its acquisition of Numis in October 2023, creating Deutsche Numis for UK corporate broking and advisory. And Robey Warshaw, the small London advisory partnership, is now part of Evercore after a deal agreed in July 2025. Each of these changes who employs which bankers, and therefore which pay structures they sit under.

Base, Bonus and Deferral Since the Bonus Cap Was Removed

For a decade the single biggest influence on how UK bankers were paid was the EU-derived bonus cap, which limited variable pay to 100% of fixed pay, or 200% with shareholder approval, for material risk takers. The Prudential Regulation Authority and the FCA removed it with effect from 31 October 2023 in PRA PS9/23. Firms now set their own ratio between fixed and variable pay, subject to having a policy they can justify.

In practice the cap had pushed banks to raise base salaries and add fixed allowances for senior staff, which made their cost base more rigid in poor years. Its removal allows the reverse: lower fixed pay and a larger, more flexible bonus. The Goldman Sachs Group UK figures reported by eFinancialCareers — average investment bank MRT salaries down 21% and bonuses up 39% in 2024 — are one published example of that shift. Not every bank has moved at the same pace, and changes to fixed pay for existing staff are usually phased in, so packages at the same level can still look quite different from one firm to the next.

The October 2025 remuneration reforms

The second round of change came in October 2025, when the PRA and FCA published joint final rules: PRA PS21/25 and FCA PS25/15. According to the PRA’s policy statement, the main changes for banks and their senior staff are:

• A single four-year minimum deferral period for all material risk takers, including senior managers, replacing the longer periods that previously applied to the most senior staff.
• Deferral percentages retained but applied marginally: 40% of variable pay is deferred on the first £660,000 and 60% on the amount above it, rather than 60% applying to the whole bonus once the threshold was crossed.
• More flexibility on cash versus shares: the fixed 50/50 split between cash and instruments in both the upfront and deferred portions has been removed, so firms can pay more cash upfront if the deferred portion holds correspondingly more shares.
• Shorter holding requirements: firms are no longer expected to set a retention period on deferred instruments, although a one-year retention period still applies to shares paid upfront.
• Dividends and interest may now be paid on deferred awards.
• Timing: the changes apply to performance years starting after 16 October 2025, with firms able to apply some of them early — including to awards already made but not yet vested.

For a senior banker, the combined effect is that a larger share of pay can be variable, but less of it is locked up for as long. A bonus deferred over four years with dividends paid on the shares is worth more, in present-value terms, than the same bonus deferred over seven years without them. That matters when comparing offers between banks that have adopted the new rules early and those that have not, and when valuing awards that a new employer will need to buy out.

These rules apply to UK banks, building societies and PRA-designated investment firms. Boutique advisers regulated only by the FCA fall under different remuneration codes, which is one reason elite boutiques have historically been able to pay more of the bonus in cash.

Moving Banks: Deferral, Clawback and Buy-outs

Deferral is the main reason a senior banker’s move is expensive. Most deferred awards are conditional on continued employment, so a banker who resigns usually forfeits whatever has not yet vested. By VP level this can amount to several years’ worth of bonus. A new employer that wants the person therefore has to decide whether, and how far, to compensate them for what they leave behind.

Malus and clawback

Under the UK remuneration rules, variable pay is subject to two forms of adjustment. Malus allows a firm to reduce or cancel deferred awards before they vest, for example where there has been misconduct or a material downturn in performance. Clawback allows a firm to recover pay that has already vested, for a period of years after the award. Both remain in place after the 2025 reforms; what changed was mainly the length of deferral, not the firm’s ability to adjust it.

How buy-outs work

A buy-out is an award from the new employer to replace awards forfeited at the old one. In a well-run process it is calculated award by award, with the replacement generally mirroring the vesting dates and form — cash or shares — of what was given up, rather than being paid as a single upfront sum. Regulated UK banks are expected to keep bought-out awards subject to equivalent deferral and adjustment, and the previous employer’s malus and clawback can continue to follow the banker into the new role.

For hiring firms, the practical steps are:

• Get documentary evidence of each unvested award — grant statements and plan rules — before making an offer, rather than relying on a candidate’s summary.
• Value awards consistently, using a clear share price date and an agreed view of performance conditions.
• Match the vesting profile where possible, so the buy-out does not hand the candidate cash earlier than they would have received it.
• Budget for notice and garden leave, which at senior levels can run to several months and delay the start date.
• Check the regulatory position if the role is a senior management function, since approval timelines affect when the person can start.

Our guide to buying out an executive’s deferred compensation covers the mechanics in more detail, including how to structure the replacement award and the common points of dispute.

Benefits Beyond Salary

Beyond base and bonus, London investment banks offer comprehensive benefits: private health insurance, generous pension contributions, and in some cases additional allowances. In the UK context, healthcare being government-funded means the benefit differential with US banks often shows up as additional holiday and pension rather than medical cover. That said, the demanding hours and high-pressure environment that characterise the industry — particularly at junior levels — remain a real part of the overall equation, and are increasingly weighed by candidates against total pay.

Published, comparable data on bank benefits is thin — most firms describe their benefits in general terms on careers pages rather than publishing contribution rates — so the comparison below is qualitative. It describes what to look for and how practice tends to differ, not any firm’s specific offer.

Pensions deserve a closer look at senior levels. HMRC’s annual allowance for tax-relieved pension saving is £60,000, but it is tapered for people with threshold income over £200,000 and adjusted income over £260,000. Most VPs and above exceed those levels, so a generous employer pension contribution can be worth less to them than it looks, and many banks offer a cash allowance in lieu. When comparing packages, it is worth asking how the pension benefit is delivered, not just its headline value.

Other benefits that differ between firms include life assurance and income protection multiples, season-ticket loans, gym and wellbeing allowances, and share purchase plans. None of these usually decides a move, but taken together they can make a noticeable difference to the value of two otherwise similar offers.

Career Path: How Pay Progresses from Analyst to MD

Pay in investment banking is closely tied to title, and titles follow a fairly fixed ladder. Using the experience bands in the Canary Wharfian guide, a banker typically spends up to three years as an analyst, three to five as an associate, and reaches VP at around five to eight years. Director follows at roughly eight to ten years, with managing director commonly reached after fifteen or more. Promotion is not automatic at any stage: each step depends on performance rankings, the health of the business and whether there is room in the team.

The biggest jumps in pay come with the promotions that change a banker’s role rather than just their title — from analyst to associate, when they start managing work, and from VP to director, when they are expected to win business. Above that, the spread of outcomes widens sharply. Two MDs at the same bank can be paid very differently depending on the revenue they generate, which is why published MD ranges are so wide.

There are also natural exit points. Many analysts leave after two or three years for private equity, corporate development or growth companies; many associates and VPs move into private equity, hedge funds or senior corporate finance roles. Our guide to the investment banking career path covers the skills that matter at each stage, and banks hiring experienced M&A leaders can see our approach to Head of M&A recruitment.

Where Investment Banking Talent Goes Next

For most bankers, investment banking is not a lifelong career but a foundation. The financial, analytical and transactional skills built in banking translate directly into senior leadership roles across the wider economy — and this is where investment banking connects to executive search. A significant proportion of the Chief Financial Officers we place, particularly in businesses facing fundraising, M&A or a transaction, come from a banking or corporate finance background. The same is true of corporate development leaders and, increasingly, board members.

For businesses hiring, this matters. A CFO with genuine banking and transaction experience brings capital-markets fluency and deal capability that a purely operational finance leader may lack — particularly valuable for private-equity-backed businesses and companies approaching a liquidity event. Understanding where this talent comes from, and what it commands, is part of building the right CFO or board team.

It also matters for pay expectations. A banker moving into an operating business will usually be comparing a corporate package — salary, annual bonus, long-term incentive and possibly equity — against a banking package with a large, deferred bonus. The useful comparison is not headline against headline, but what the banker would realistically earn over the next three to five years at the bank, including the deferred awards they will forfeit, against the expected value of the corporate role including any equity.

For the advisory side of the market specifically, our companion ranking of the top UK corporate finance and M&A boutiques profiles the firms where much of this senior talent sits, and our financial services board practice covers the non-executive appointments these professionals often move into.

Exec Capital does not do investment banking itself; it recruits for it. Through our investment banking recruitment practice we hire for banks, boutiques and corporate finance advisers, and we also place former bankers into the finance, strategy and board roles described above.

Related Reading

This guide sits alongside our other financial-services compensation and sector pieces. See our companion ‘Inside Look’ guides to London asset managers and London hedge funds, our ranking of UK corporate finance and M&A boutiques, and our CFO salary guide. For market data, published compensation reports from specialist recruiters and industry sources provide detailed year-on-year benchmarking.

Frequently asked questions

What is the average investment banking salary in London?

There is no single average, because pay depends so heavily on level. The Canary Wharfian guide (updated May 2026) gives median total compensation of about £95,000 for a first-year analyst, £225,000 for an associate, £330,000 for a VP and £900,000 for a managing director in London. These are compiled market figures, not any bank’s pay scale.

How much does an investment banking associate earn in London?

On the same source, London associates typically earn a base salary of around £95,000–£130,000 and total compensation of about £170,000–£300,000, with elite boutiques and the stronger US banks towards the top of the range.

Do London bankers earn less than New York bankers?

Published pay data generally shows London packages below New York packages at the same level, although the gap varies by bank and moves with exchange rates. Benefits differ too: UK packages carry less weight on healthcare because of the NHS, and more on pension and holiday.

Is there still a bonus cap for UK bankers?

No. The PRA and FCA removed the bonus cap with effect from 31 October 2023 under PRA PS9/23. Firms now set their own ratio of fixed to variable pay. EU-headquartered banks may still apply the cap to some staff under their home-country rules, so it is worth checking at offer stage.

How long is bonus deferral for bankers in the UK?

Since the joint PRA and FCA reforms published in October 2025 (PRA PS21/25 and FCA PS25/15), the minimum deferral period for material risk takers is four years, with 40% of variable pay deferred on the first £660,000 and 60% above it. Staff who are not material risk takers may be subject to their bank’s own deferral policy, which can differ.

What happens to deferred bonuses when you change banks?

Unvested deferred awards are usually forfeited when a banker resigns. A hiring bank often offers a buy-out to replace them, typically mirroring the original vesting schedule and form, and the replacement awards remain subject to malus and clawback.

Do elite boutiques pay more than bulge-bracket banks?

Published market data suggests they often do at associate and VP level, and the Canary Wharfian guide puts elite boutique analysts and VPs above their bulge-bracket peers. Boutiques also tend to pay more of the bonus in cash. Bulge brackets offer broader platforms, more product range and more international mobility.

Which benefits matter most when comparing banking offers?

At junior levels, working hours and protected time often matter as much as any benefit. At senior levels, how the pension is delivered (given the tapered annual allowance), private medical cover for the family, the office attendance policy and the treatment of deferred awards on leaving are usually the points worth checking.

How quickly do bankers get promoted?

As a rough guide, three years as an analyst, three to five as an associate, and VP at around five to eight years’ experience, with director and managing director following on performance. Timelines vary by bank and by market conditions, and promotion is never automatic.

Does Exec Capital work for investment banks?

Exec Capital is an executive search firm and does not provide investment banking services. It recruits for investment banking roles, from analyst to managing director, for banks, boutiques and corporate finance advisers, and places former bankers into senior finance and board roles.