Investment Banking Salaries in France 2025

Investment banking is one of the most lucrative career paths in France. IB analysts earn a base salary of €60K while the average total pay rises to €85K per year with bonuses. At the senior investment bankers levels, the total pay is often above €500K, and sometimes even over €1M for managing directors.

However, the amount you’ll earn if you secure an investment banking role in France will vary depending on factors like professional experience, location, and the size or prestige of the company.

This guide will walk you through such factors and provide the average salaries for an investment banking analyst at the top IB firms in France. We’ll also look at how the salaries compare to other lucrative professions.

How Is the Salary Structured in Investment Banking?

Investment banking salaries usually consist of a base salary and bonuses. The base pay is a fixed annual salary that can help you anticipate and plan for your total income. Bonuses are an additional pay and are particularly what makes investment banking one of the most highly paid careers. They are often a percentage of one’s salary and vary by year based on the set criteria and performance.

Some of the types of bonuses you can expect in IB include:

• Signing Bonus: Offered to attract new hires, especially those from top universities or coming from other major firms.
• Retention Bonus: Given to existing employees to retain them. This bonus type is especially common in times of high M&A activity or high-demand periods.
• Individual Bonus: This type of performance-based bonus is a reward to individual bankers because of their personal contribution like closing a deal or generating revenue for the firm.
• Firm-wide Bonus: This is also a performance-based bonus but it’s offered to all employees across all levels in a firm. If it has been a profitable year, the bonuses will be higher, and vice versa.

The pay package of an investment banker can also include other non-cash benefits like stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs) and employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs).

Which Factors Influence Your Salary in Investment Banking?

There are a few factors that determine the amount you’ll take home as an investment banker in France. These include experience and seniority, location, bank size, performance, and specialization.

Let’s get a little deeper on how each of these factors influence IB salaries.

Experience and Seniority

Investment banking is a hierarchical industry. The hierarchy of investment banking roles generally includes the following levels, from lowest to highest:

• Analyst
• Associate
• Vice president
• Director
• Managing director

As you move through the ranks, your salary will increase. For instance, moving from the investment banking analyst position to associate level in Paris, France changes the average salary from €50K - €75K/yr to €84K - €196K/yr. Advancing to the senior IB positions can result in six figure salaries. Career advancement in this field is largely dependent on performance, reputation, and relationships.

Location

Another important factor that determines pay packages in France is geography. Major financial hubs offer higher salaries to attract the top talent and match the cost of living. Paris, the capital city of France, is one of the major financial centers in Europe and provides competitive compensation.

However, cities like London, a larger financial hub, offer higher salaries because of their extensive market size and global influence. Working in other cities in France could also mean lower salaries compared to Paris.

👉 If you would also consider a career in the UK, don't miss our article on the top investment banks in the UK.

Bank Size & Prestige

Of course investment banking compensation varies by firm as well. For the longest time, bulge-bracket banks like JP Morgan have offered higher base salaries than other firms in the boutique, middle-market, and local categories. That’s because they get high-profile deals and handle major financial transactions throughout the world.

However, it’s not uncommon to now find some elite boutique firms giving higher paychecks to investment bankers than the bulge brackets. You’ll see this as we look at the pay packages for each of the top firms in France later.

Performance

In the investment banking industry, a large part of your compensation is tied to your performance. This is especially true for senior bankers whose bonuses can sometimes exceed the base pay in good years.

Besides personal performance, the team and overall firm’s performance plus the market conditions affect the possible bonus for each year. If the firm performs well or it’s generally a good year for investment banks, you’ll likely get a higher bonus.

Sector or Specialization

Lastly, the industry group and market sector you’re working in can influence your investment banking compensation in France. Bankers making deals with companies or investors in certain high-growth sectors like healthcare and technology tend to earn more. Also, industry groups like M&A and private equity come with higher pay because of the complexity of these deals.

What Are the Top Paying Investment Banking Firms in France?

Investment banking firms in France fall into the categories of bulge brackets, elite boutiques, middle-market, and local banks. Let’s start with an overview of the investment banking analyst salaries at the bulge bracket banks in France.

Salaries at Bulge Bracket Firms in France

Among bulge bracket firms in France, Goldman Sachs leads with the highest total compensation of €125K, followed by J.P. Morgan at €118K. Barclays offers the highest base salary range (€96K-€105K) but no listed bonus, resulting in €100K total. Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and UBS provide competitive packages ranging from €74K to €88K, while Morgan Stanley and Citi offer slightly lower total compensation at €75K and €74K, respectively.

Salaries at Elite Boutiques, Middle Markets, and Regional Banks in France

Investment banking salaries across the top boutiques, middle markets, and regional banks in France tend to vary widely. Boutique firms like Jefferies, Lazard, and Rothschild & Co offer the highest total compensation at €135K which is higher than most bulge bracket firms. Smaller banks like Crédit Mutuel Group offer average salaries around €44K, but for most firms, the total pay is above €56K.

Performance bonuses have a massive impact on total earnings, with some banks like Natixis offering substantial additional compensation.

How Do Investment Banking Salaries Progress with Experience?

Investment banking salaries are known for being highly competitive, reflecting the demanding nature of the profession. As professionals gain experience, their compensation typically evolves significantly, including both base salary and performance-driven bonuses. Let’s take a look at the average pay scale for each career level.

The summer analyst position is the common entry point for most people in investment banking careers. They are often undergraduate students or recent graduates participating in a short-term internship program. Summer analysts in France get an average base pay of €48K.

Entry-level analysts are usually recent graduates with bachelor's or master's degrees. In France, investment banking analysts get an average base salary range of €50K to €75K yearly. The average annual salary for analysts jumps up to €85K when the bonuses are added.

After analysts, the next rank in investment banking is associates. These are either recent MBA graduates or high-performing analysts who have been promoted internally after three or four years. IB associates in France earn an average base salary between €75K to €130K. The total average pay in Paris with bonuses is €145K per year.

The next position is a senior role for investment banking vice president. In Paris, France, vice presidents earn base salaries between €235K and €285K.

At the director or senior vice president level, bankers earn base salaries between €285K and €333K in France. Their bonuses can double or triple the income because they drive the firm's growth and are responsible for overall business unit performance.

The salary progression with ranks makes investment banking a financially attractive career for top performers who want to be in the industry long-term.

Investment Banking Salaries in Comparison to Other Industries

Investment banking salaries often outpace those in other industries, making the field highly attractive to ambitious professionals. This compensation premium reflects the intense work environment, high skill requirements, and substantial revenue contributions associated with the role. Below, we have listed how the average salary in investment banking compares to other demanding fields like consulting, accounting or data science.

Investment banking salaries in France are among the highest across industries. Entry-level analysts can earn up to €125K a year, which is more than what junior professionals in other sectors like consulting, software engineering, cyber security, law, or data science get.

Only marketing directors, who are senior professionals, come close with €88-€141K. So, investment banking has quite competitive compensation which tells more about the industry's demanding nature and high-stakes financial work.

Key Takeaways

• Investment banking salaries in France vary depending on factors like experience, firm size, role, and location.
• The pay package in investment banking consists of a base pay and various types of bonuses. The bonuses can include signing bonus, retention bonus, and individual or team performance bonuses.
• Just like in other parts of the world, investment banking salaries in France progress with experience and seniority.
• Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and JP Morgan offer the most competitive investment banking analyst total pay among the bulge bracket firms in France, often above €100K per year.
• Among the top boutiques, middle markets, and regional banks in France, Jefferies, Lazard, and Rothschild & Co offer the highest total compensation at €135K which is higher than most bulge bracket firms.
• Investment bankers in France also turn out to be among the most highly paid professionals compared to other industries like law, consulting, data science, and cyber security.