European pay grade
How much do investment bankers in Europe get paid? Without talking about London of course...
I'm talking about Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, Germany with it's many exchanges, ...
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In Paris they get paid in croissant and cigarettes
Long story short - not much. In 2019, only 4,963 bankers in the EU/EEA made over 1 million euros ($1.12 million). That's across investment banking, asset management, and executive functions. By country:
While Europeans make less than Americans, using absolute numbers says nothing at all
The key metric would be per 1000 bankers or so, as that way you can compare
Can't provide specific numbers as it depends on AUM, reputation, management, etc.
But overall, for middle/lower middle market PE, Germany as benchmark, French ~100%, Benelux (Luxenbourg has very limited PE presence so an exception) <80%, Swiss shop >150%. Also more pan-europe funds in DE and FR and Swiss, while Benelux funds more local sourcing.
For VC, really bad comps in all EU continent shops, with terrible base salaries and carry distribution scheme...
IB folks in Europe get paid significantly more than the average income in their local region. While the "absolute highest" salaries are not as high as in, say, NYC. That won't explain anything about all the other benefits, job security, gov benefits, (..)
My highest salaries were in NYC, Frankfurt and London. After a decade, it's a wash. In some countries you may get a little less, but you win somewhere else.
Also, not every staffer in banking will command the highest income bracket, regardless of location. Just because one would work in NYC doesn't mean they suddenly move to the Upper East side.
Frankfurt: base salary for AN1 at the large boutiques (top MM + EB) and BB is between 80-95k € + 5-10k € Signing right now, Paris is similar as far as I know. Southern Europe (Italy, Spain) is lower, but mainly due to lower CoL
Surprising given that London is at £65-£75k (75-85k€) with higher COL. Perhaps higher bonuses? Also I presume banks in London don't need to pay very much to attract talent from the continent.
It is quite known in Germany that your savings rate is much higher in Frankfurt than in London - especially for Juniors. Becomes different at senior levels (better comp progression with higher bonuses) as taxes are also lower in the UK
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