Paris or London - which is more profitable?
Hi everyone,
I am in my final year at a top French business school and have done several M&A internships in Paris; BNP, Rothschild and Lazard. I'm currently thinking about what I'm going to do at the end of my studies and the question that arises is: London or Paris?
In terms of cost of living, salaries, health insurance, social contributions, taxes, and all the other expenses you can have in this kind of thing... which city is more profitable? Assuming I work in the same bank in London and Paris.
I feel that London obviously offers more opportunities and exit, better financial place, but Paris is financially easier, less expensive with roughly similar salaries :)
Thanks for your insights!
Paris is actually more expensive than London according to articles I've seen.
Salaries in Paris I think are marginally better?
This is very false. Paris is much less expensive than London, while base salaries are higher
Fair enough, you can stop throwing MS. I got it from what I thought was a reputable source that I'd seen in passing some time ago:
https://files.static-nzz.ch/2021/12/01/5fef9ee8-c25d-4291-8c5f-7c266524…
I did my first year in IB in Paris before moving to London.
Cost of living (rent, food, drinks, etc) are significantly higher in London. I live in a comparable flat / type of area in London to where I was in Paris and I was paying €1.1k while I pay £1.4k now (i.e >€1.6k).
Drinks when you go clubbing, transportation, activities etc all have a 20-30% premium in terms of price compared to Paris.
In terms of salaries, base comp is a bit higher in Paris but bonus in London are better (and the gap widens at the Associate+ level).
Something to consider is whether you can get 100% of what you put into your pensions in London when moving back permanently to Paris (I'm French so that' the plan in the long term). Some friends mentioned that tax are pretty heavy and so you loose almost half of what you had to that extent.
Merci beaucoup !
From all the exchanges I've had with analysts and my experience in Paris, I get the impression that you usually work longer hours in London than in Paris. Is this true? (all things being relative ofc). If so I think it's a no brainer that I would go to Paris instead, especially as I plan to lateral quite quickly so the bonus gap from associate is not something I particularly need to consider.
Again thanks a lot :)
In term of hours, I would say it is really team and bank dependant, and you cannot make general statement regarding one city compared to another. You have some total sweatshops in both cities, while you can also find teams with relatively better WLB
I agree with that. I am French and live in London and can attest that COL is significantly higher in London:
- As you said everything incl. restaurants, supermarket etc costs 20-30% more
- Transportation is significantly more expensive in London
- Property value in London is just TRASH. For the same amount you would pay for a nice Parisian studio, you literally just have a 3-people flatshare in London. It is quite common to pay anywhere between £1-2k per person for a flatshare in central London.
- Moreover French sécurité sociale is actually very good, while NHS is complete garbage, so you will need medical insurance in London. You will likely get it through your employer, but everything won’t be included (eg dentist), and what’s not included will be 2-3x more expensive in London (no jokes)
So much higher COL, but better bonus. I think entry level you make more in Paris but the. London wins.
However both cities are quite different, wouldn’t make a decision based on money
What happens to your pension once you get back to France? I’m starting a new gig in ldn and probably will go back to france in the long run
Later down the line Paris is probably more profitable though... If you spend (3/5) yrs abroad, when you come back to France you get 5 yrs where your taxable salary is reduced by 30% (i.e. you are not taxed on 30 pts of your salary).
Additionally, the cost of having kids in the UK is crazy high Vs France.
If you want to maximise money, probably spend 5-6 yrs in London and then move to paris.
Having worked in Paris and London, I must say that the culture is 10x better in London than Paris...
What is this rule of reduced taxes ?? Seems interesting..
Agree that London culture is sooo much better
Check impatriation in France.
Maybe England has better schooling but the cost is just atrocious... I think the UK is one of the worst of the ocde or Europe for the cost of raising kids.
In the UK, Day care cost 2400 gbp per month, then independent schools 20-30k per year.... Compared to France where it's basically free...
With respect to the cost of having kids - it is probably worth mentioning that Britain has far better (private) schools and universities.
Why do you say they have better universities ?
U.K. unis apart from Oxbridge aren’t necessarily better than Grande Ecoles (which would be the paying equivalent of U.K. top unis)
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