The highest paying investment banks in the world, ranked
If you want to work in investment banking, you probably want to do it for the money.
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The material obsession doesn’t stop when you get the job – you’ll be comparing “wallet” sizes with peers for the rest of your career. So which bank has the best-paid bankers?
Our 2025 Salary and Bonus Report can help. Based on over 2,500 responses from financial services professionals, we had respondents from every major bank, jurisdiction, and role in the world.
The best-paid bankers and bank employees in the world probably won’t surprise you, but the rest of the list definitely might. Some strong contenders last year slid down the list, as their bonuses did not match the rise that their peers experienced. Who came on top? And who came out last? Read on and find out.
1. Boutique banks paid an average of $494k
It should be no surprise that boutique banks (including Evercore, Lazard, and Moelis, among others), which paid average salaries of $226k and average bonuses of $269k, were the highest-paying banks among our respondents. Boutique bankers had both the highest bonuses and highest bonus increases (44%). With heavier weighting towards revenue-generating front office staff than any other bank on our list, it’s no surprise that boutiques had the highest-paid people in our survey.
2. Standard Chartered paid an average of $473k
Surprisingly, Standard Chartered was the highest paying “normal” bank in our survey. Our respondents in APAC were on the lower end of the pay spectrum than other regions of the world, and Standard Chartered is best-known for its Asian business, where the majority of its headcount is based and most of its profit is drawn from. Even so, Standard Chartered bankers had the highest base pay/salary of our respondents, at $238k per head, and the third highest bonuses - $235k, on average.
3. Morgan Stanley paid an average of $456k
Morgan Stanley was the second-highest-paying bank in our survey, with average salaries of $219k and average bonuses of $237k. Morgan Stanley’s bonuses were the highest of the large banks in our survey, but the firm’s bankers benefited from a modest uplift (20%) in bonuses compared to last year.
4. SocGen paid an average of $402k
Equally surprisingly, Société Générale took the last podium place of the “normal” banks in our survey, with average salaries of $202k and average bonuses of $200k. The French bank is better known for its ironclad work-life balance and job security than for the high pay. It is currently engaged in a bit of a midlife crisis, with former investment banking chief Slawomir Krupa pledging 1,600 cuts across the investment bank as part of a revitalisation process.
5. UBS paid an average of $395k
UBS paid a very respectable $395k on average to the respondents in our survey who represented the firm, Average salaries were $209k and average bonuses of $186k. UBS respondents benefitted particularly from a huge upswing in their bonuses (42%), without which they would have dropped back a few places in our leaderboard. UBS is still busy digesting its brother Credit Suisse, as well as being knee-deep in a cost cutting pledge. The bonus uplift must be particularly sweet in those circumstances.
6. Bank of America paid an average of $382k
Bank of America paid huge average salaries of $227k, the second highest of all the big banks in our survey band behind only Standard Chartered. Bonuses, however, were lacking, at only $155k on average per person. The firm had a smaller bonus upswing (just 21%) than most of the banks that outranked it.
7. Barclays paid an average of $350k
Barclays paid average salaries of $215k, and average bonuses of $135k. Barclays employees benefited from a generous bonus upswing of 36.4%. Barclays is Europe’s most American-like bank, and its generous salaries reflect that – all American banks generally paid good salaries in our survey. Things might change in the future, however, as the scrapping of the bonus cap frees the London-based firm to pay more compensation with more variable compensation.
8. Deutsche Bank paid an average of $330k
Deutsche Bank performed a strong eighth in our report, paying strong average salaries of $204k per head and less strong average bonuses of $125k per head. That’s pretty consistent with how European bankers reported their compensation: the EU bonus cap generally limits the scope of variable compensation (bonuses), and weights European bankers’ pay more towards salary, rather than bonuses.
9. Citi paid an average of $329k
Citi was a surprisingly low performer in our list, having placed second last year. Although the bank paid decent salaries (an average of $200k per head) and raised its bonus pool reasonably strongly (by 36%), it was hamstrung by what was reported as an extremely low bonus base last year. Citi spent 2024 seriously restructuring its operations and at the start of 2025 was still in the midst of cutting heads.
10. Santander paid an average of $323k
Santander paid contrary to our expectations. With average salaries of $156k per head, and with average bonuses of $166k per head, compensation at the Spanish bank was hamstrung by an extremely flat bonus pool, which only shifted upwards by 0.5%. Based on those figures, Santander bankers had the second highest bonuses on average after 2023, behind just Morgan Stanley’s. If the numbers seem static, they are, and with good reason: Santander hired a lot of bankers with a $250m fund to turbocharge its investment bank over the last few years, and many of those bankers were reportedly on fixed bonuses.
11. JPMorgan paid an average of $312k
JPMorgan’s low place on our list was a surprise. Average salaries of $197k were on par with other American banks, but average bonuses of $115k were well behind rivals. JPMorgan respondents to our survey said that their bonuses fell by 2% on average – the only bankers that responded an overall fall in their bonus figures. JPMorgan stretched its lead in our annual Ideal Employer survey last year, taking an even bigger share of the vote among financial services professionals. If that bonus pool change is accurate, its prominent place might soon be challenged by some of the banks further up our list here.
12. BNP paid an average of $308k
It’s no surprise that a French bank like BNP Paribas is so far down our list. Average salaries of $161k and average bonuses of $147k are not competitive enough to fight the pay power of boutique banks (but apparently enough to compete with JPMorgan). What might sting for BNP Paribas, however, is how strongly cross-town rival SocGen performed, given that BNP has long had an ambition to be Europe’s primary investment bank. Languishing in 12th in our compensation tables is not enough for achieving those sorts of goals.
13. Goldman Sachs paid an average of $264k
Goldman Sachs was definitely the biggest disappointment in our list. Having topped the ranking of investment bank compensation last year, it now entered the list only 13th. Average salaries of $144k per head and average bonuses of $119k per head were significantly behind any of its peers, American or international, and a 51% bonus pool increase suggests that last year was even worse for the firm. It’s not an easily explained phenomenon, as Goldman was the highest-ranking investment bank in our Ideal Employer report’s compensation section last year. We suggest it may be related to the high proportion of Goldman Sachs staff now earning lower pay in its "low cost locations."
14. NatWest paid an average of $226k
NatWest paid a respectable average of $149k in salaries and a less respectable average of $77k in bonuses to respondents for 2024. The bonus pool upswing of 42% was enough for it to overtake HSBC’s hall of shame performance as “bank with the worst bonuses”, but the suggestion is that last year’s bonuses were even more abysmal. As NatWest was for a long time owned by the British government, the stinginess might be understandable. The government’s stake in it has eroded over the years, however, and it is no longer its largest single stakeholder. Perhaps things will change. Probably not.
15. HSBC paid an average of $213k
The hall of shame’s top step was occupied by HSBC, which paid average salaries of $138k per person and average bonuses of $75k per person. Both were worst in class, and the 17% bonus upswing from last year was significantly below the global and industry average. HSBC paid its people very poorly. Part of that might be because their jobs won’t exist soon – new CEO Georges Elhedery came in last year, and has decided to stamp his authority upon the bank by annihilating its investment banking presence in Europe and the Americas. Nice.
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