# Junior bankers are paid okay in Germany. Their bosses less so

by [Zeno Toulon](/content/news/author/zenotoulon-en "author profile link"/index.html)

4 July 2025

2 minute read

If you’re a German [investment banker](/content/news/the-investment-banking-recruitment-process/index.html) wondering how your pay stacks up compared to your London-based colleagues then we hate to disappoint you, but it does not look good.

A recent report from Munich-based finfluencer “M&A Associate” [on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/ma_associate/) says German M&A professionals are quite significantly underpaid next to their London-based colleagues.

Although pay for [analyst-level](/content/news/banks-weird-hierarchies-analysts-associates-vps-mds/index.html) professionals is comparable to [what we know in London](/content/news/london-bank-analyst-pay/index.html), 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](/content/banking-compensation-guide/index.html) 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](/content/banking-compensation-guide/index.html) also finds that European bankers [work fewer hours](/content/news/banking-work-life-balance/index.html) than their colleagues in London. Calculated per hour, European bankers earn almost as much as English ones.

### Average salaries and bonuses for M&A professionals in DACH, 2025
| Title | Avg. Fixed Pay | Avg. Variable Pay | Avg. Total Compensation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Analyst 1 | €88k | €30k | €118k |
| Analyst 2 | €100k | €28k | €128k |
| Analyst 3 | €92k | €49k | €141k |
| Associate 1 | €93k | €30k | €123k |
| Associate 2 | €121k | €87k | €208k |
| Associate 3 | €130k | €40k | €170k |
| Vice President | €138k | €100k | €238k |
| Director | €132k | €106k | €238k |

Table: Zeno Toulon Source: [M&A Associate](https://www.instagram.com/ma_associate/) Get the data Created with [Datawrapper](https://www.datawrapper.de/_/0jX5e)