Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citi and BofA: top salaries & bonuses in London
2025 was a great year for investment banks. It was also a year in which Wall Street firms collectively shred 10,000 jobs. But, if you were kept up at night in worry about the pay packages which senior bankers would receive, then fret not. They were great. In London, at least.
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On average, compensation for senior bankers in 2025 increased by approximately 14%. This was driven by an average increase in bonuses of 26%. The smallest bonus increases were for Bank of America's bankers, who received bonuses just 9% higher than 2024's, on average. The largest increases were at Morgan Stanley, where bonuses increased by 60% on average.
The figures below were made public as part of the European Union's pay transparency requirements. The most recently available figures. The data refers only to salaries and bonuses for Material Risk Takers, or MRTs for short, defined as people whose “professional activities have a material impact on the risk profile of the firm,” per the UK’s FCA. All data is derived from Pillar III filings for each of the banks.
In the data below, we've broken out the data for MRTs in the investment banks only (labelled as 'investment banking MRTs' in the reports). These are front office MRTs only, working in areas like M&A as well as capital markets and sales & trading. The figures don't include MRTs in control functions like risk and compliance, or pay for members of management committees.
The following subsidiaries are referred to by the name of their parent companies below:
- Goldman Sachs: Goldman Sachs Group UK Limited
- JPMorgan: J.P. Morgan Securities plc. & J.P. Morgan Europe Limited
- Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley International Limited Group
- Citi: Citigroup Global Markets Limited
- Bank of America: Merrill Lynch International (including its branches) & Bank of America, N.A. London Branch
The best-paid investment bank MRTs in London were at Morgan Stanley, who averaged compensation of $2.2m. They also enjoyed the largest pay increases by some margin. As expected, there was a general upswing in compensation, which was likely due to increased investment banking activity worldwide – according to Tricumen, the investment banking fee pool increased by 10% between 2024 and 2025. The sales & trading fee pool as a whole increased by 14%.
Salaries and bonuses at Goldman Sachs London in 2025:
Number of regulated staff: There were 531 investment bank MRTs in Goldman Sachs’ London office in 2025.
Average salary: The average Goldman investment bank MRT in London earned $542k in fixed compensation in 2025.
Average bonus: The average Goldman investment bank MRT in London earned $1.1m in variable compensation in 2025.
Average compensation: The average Goldman investment bank MRT in London earned $1.7m in compensation in 2025.
Bonus breakdown: The average Goldman MRT (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) in London earned 42% of their bonus in cash (none deferred); 58% was in shares (96% deferred).
Deferred bonus: The average Goldman MRT’s (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) bonus was 56% deferred (all shares).
Average severance payment: Goldman fired 12 MRTs (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) in 2025, who received $107k each in severance, on average.
Changes in compensation, 2024 vs 2025: The number of investment bank MRTs rose from 542 to 531, a 2% decrease. Average salaries went from $697k per head to $542k per head, a 22% decrease. Average bonuses went from $968k per head to $1.1m per head, an 18% increase. Compensation as a whole therefore went from $1.67m to $1.69m, a 1% increase.
Distribution of staff earning over €1m:
Salaries and bonuses at JPMorgan London in 2025:
Number of regulated staff: There were 481 investment bank MRTs in JPMorgan’s London office in 2025.
Average salary: The average JPMorgan investment bank MRT in London earned $798k in fixed compensation in 2025.
Average bonus: The average JPMorgan investment bank MRT in London earned $1.2m in variable compensation in 2025.
Average compensation: The average JPMorgan investment bank MRT in London earned $2.0m in compensation in 2025.
Bonus breakdown: The average JPMorgan MRT (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) in London earned 41% of their bonus in cash (none deferred); 59% was in shares (96% deferred).
Deferred bonus: The average JPMorgan MRT’s (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) bonus was 56% deferred (all shares).
Average severance payment: JPMorgan fired 10 MRTs (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) in 2025, who received $333k each in severance, on average.
Changes in compensation, 2024 vs 2025: The number of investment bank MRTs went from 486 to 481, a 1% decrease. Average salaries went from $840k per head to $798k per head, a 5% decrease. Average bonuses went from $973k per head to $1.2m per head, a 20% increase. Compensation as a whole therefore went from $1.81m to $1.97m, a 9% increase.
Distribution of staff earning over €1m:
Salaries and bonuses at Morgan Stanley London in 2025:
Number of regulated staff: There were 332 investment bank MRTs in Morgan Stanley’s London office in 2025.
Average salary: The average Morgan Stanley investment bank MRT in London earned $800k in fixed compensation in 2025.
Average bonus: The average Morgan Stanley investment bank MRT in London earned $1.4m in variable compensation in 2025.
Average compensation: The average Morgan Stanley investment bank MRT in London earned $2.2m in compensation in 2025.
Bonus breakdown: The average Morgan Stanley MRT (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) in London earned just 36% of their bonus in cash (none deferred); 64% were in shares (92% deferred).
Deferred bonus: The average Morgan Stanley MRT’s (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) bonus was 59% deferred (all of which were shares).
Average severance payment: Morgan Stanley fired 5 MRTs (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) in 2025, who received $120k each in severance, on average.
Changes in compensation, 2024 vs 2025: The number of investment bank MRTs went from 325 to 332, a 1% increase. Average salaries went from $601k per head to $800k per head, a 33% increase. Average bonuses went from $898k per head to $1.4m per head, a 60% increase. Compensation as a whole therefore fell from $1.50m to $2.24m, a 49% increase.
Distribution of staff earning over €1m:
Salaries and bonuses at Bank of America (BofA) London in 2025:
Number of regulated staff: There were 354 investment bank MRTs in BofA’s London office in 2025.
Average salary: The average BofA investment bank MRT in London earned $744k in fixed compensation in 2025.
Average bonus: The average BofA investment bank MRT in London earned $946k in variable compensation in 2025.
Average compensation: The average BofA investment bank MRT in London earned $1.69m in compensation in 2025.
Bonus breakdown: The average BofA MRT (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) in London earned just 20% of their bonus in cash (none deferred); 78% was in shares (100% deferred), and 3% was in “share-linked instruments or equivalent” (38% deferred).
Deferred bonus: The average BofA MRT’s (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) bonus was 79% deferred (99% shares).
Average severance payment: BofA fired 18 MRTs (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) in 2025, who received $370k each in severance, on average.
Changes in compensation, 2024 vs 2025: The number of investment bank MRTs went from 341 to 354, a 4% increase. Average salaries went from $788k per head to $744k per head, a 6% decrease. Average bonuses went from $868k per head to $946k per head, a 9% increase. Compensation as a whole therefore went from $1.66m to $1.69m, a 2% increase.
Distribution of staff earning over €1m:
Salaries and bonuses at Citi London in 2025:
Number of regulated staff: There were 488 investment bank MRTs in Citi’s London office in 2025.
Average salary: The average Citi investment bank MRT in London earned $617k in fixed compensation in 2025.
Average bonus: The average Citi investment bank MRT in London earned $843k in variable compensation in 2025.
Average compensation: The average Citi investment bank MRT in London earned $1.46m in compensation in 2025.
Bonus breakdown: The average Citi MRT (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) in London earned 46% of their bonus in cash (none deferred); 52% was in shares (100% deferred).
Deferred bonus: The average Citi MRT’s (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) bonus was 52% deferred (100% of which was shares).
Average severance payment: Citi fired 41 MRTs (including, but not limited to, the investment bank) in 2025, who received $47k each in severance, on average.
Changes in compensation, 2024 vs 2025: The number of investment bank MRTs rose from 462 to 488, a 6% increase. Average salaries went from $594k per head to $617k per head, a 4% increase. Average bonuses went from $679k per head to $843k per head, a 24% increase. Compensation as a whole therefore went from $1.27m to $1.46m, a 15% increase.
Distribution of staff earning over €1m:
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