UK financial services professionals secure biggest bonuses globally
The UK recorded the highest bonus payouts across all markets, overtaking North America and exceeding the bonuses awarded in Europe and APAC, according to the latest Compensation Report by eFinancialCareers, the world’s leading financial services careers platform.
Against a backdrop of financial and political uncertainty, the UK still fared best among the world’s major financial markets during the latest round of bonuses, with average payouts reaching $148,961. This exceeded the bonus pots awarded in North America ($145,817), Europe ($108,522) and APAC ($48,880).
Higher bonus payouts follow the early lifting of the European bonus cap in London, with this years’ round seeing YoY increases of 26% in the UK, beating the bonus increases seen in APAC (+22%), Europe (+19%) and North America (+18%). Financial services performed strongly not just in the UK, but globally, with bonuses across the industry up by 22% since last year.
Although bonuses rose considerably, working hours remained largely unchanged, with a marginal increase of 0.6% overall. This slight uptick was driven by a small group of outliers, and 13 of the 21 financial services sectors reported a decrease in hours worked compared to the previous year. Investment banking, M&A and private equity professionals all had shorter working weeks in the last financial year, while securing considerable bonus increases, demonstrating that greater financial rewards doesn’t necessarily equate to more hours worked across the industry.
Table 1: Compensation by location: UK, US, Europe, APAC, 2024
Source: eFinancialCareers, 2025 Financial Services Compensation & Lifestyle Report.
Hedge Funds vs Private Equity
Professionals working for Hedge Funds and those in Private Equity enjoyed the strongest YoY bonus increases, with a 48% and 46% increase respectively. However, in absolute terms, Private Equity payouts were dwarfed in comparison to Hedge Funds, with the latter cashing in average bonuses of $453,167 compared to just $81,415 in Private Equity (not factoring in carried interest).
In both professions, the high YoY increases were largely driven by junior levels, as Analysts in Private Equity saw a 111% bonus increase, while Hedge Fund analysts experienced an even greater jump of 133%.
The most striking contrast between the two sectors emerges at the senior level. Managing directors in Private Equity earned an average bonus of $328,600 in 2024 while their Hedge Fund counterparts earned an average bonus of $1,805,417.
While Hedge Funds and PE received bumper bonus rises, results varied significantly across sectors. Equity Capital Markets (ECM) faced a 9% cut to their bonuses, while M&A rounded out the top three with an increase of 42%.
Table 2: Financial Services Compensation by Sector, 2024 vs 2023, US$
Source: eFinancialCareers, 2025 Financial Services Compensation & Lifestyle Report.
Lifestyle
Renowned for its high-pressure environments and demanding hours, mental and physical health are often considered to be overlooked in the financial services industry. However, professionals reported an overall improvement in their health in comparison to last year, as well as being able to achieve significant pay rises.
On average, respondents rated their mental health a 6.9 out of ten, and their physical health a 7.2 out of ten. Last year, they rated themselves a 6.0 and 6.5, respectively.
Surprisingly, working hours are not directly linked to health. Although bankers at BNP Paribas work some of the longest hours (58.63 per week), their peers working at Boutiques clock even more hours (at 60.33 per week), but score highest on mental health (7.8) and second highest overall (7.6).
When combining mental and physical wellbeing scores, Barclays emerged as the employer of the healthiest bankers, while SocGen and BNP Paribas ranked lowest in overall wellbeing.
Table 3: Mental and Physical health by bank, 2024
Source: eFinancialCareers, 2025 Financial Services Compensation & Lifestyle Report.
Hong Kong vs Singapore
Overall, both Hong Kong and Singapore outscored the global average bonus increase of 22%, with Hong Kong securing an average YoY increase of 40%, driven largely by the senior levels who recorded bonus increases of 102%.
This marks a stark difference compared to Singapore, where directors and managing directors only saw increases of 35% and 12.8% respectively. Singapore’s bonus round was also less lucrative across all levels, with professionals in the city seeing bonus increases of 25%.
Table 4: Financial Services Compensation in Hong Kong and Singapore
Source: eFinancialCareers, 2025 Financial Services Compensation & Lifestyle Report.
Peter Healey, CEO of eFinancialCareers, comments: “Given the political and economic uncertainty throughout 2024, both in the UK and globally, it wouldn’t be surprising if this year’s bonus season was more conservative. However, we’re seeing the improved financial performances translate directly into improved compensation, with bonuses up by as much as 133% at junior levels in a positive signal to graduates, and even senior professionals seeing six-figure increases.
“When viewed in the round, this signals a more positive picture of the industry, one that reflects resilience and strong performance over the past financial year. This data was collected before the US tariffs announcements and so sentiment may have altered in the past two weeks, but what’s particularly encouraging to me is the improvement in mental and physical wellbeing. In a sector known for long hours and high stress, it’s heartening to see signs that professionals are managing to find better work life balance while still securing considerable and competitive compensation.”