Financial services hires for depth, not just headcount. Recent government analysis found that in the financial services sector, recruitment was generally for higher-level roles rather than entry-level ones, with employers concentrating on more senior, qualified positions a 2026 GOV.UK Temporary Shortage List report. That skew towards experienced, qualified people matters for how you pay. When you're competing for senior brokers, the fixed salary line is only half the conversation. The other half is the bonus, and how believable it looks on the day someone reads your advert.
So the question isn't whether you offer a bonus. In broking, almost everyone does. The question is whether an experienced broker can look at your package and understand, in plain terms, what they'll actually earn. When the variable element is vague, strong people discount it to zero and move on.
Broker pay is built to be variable. A large share of total earnings sits in commission, desk splits, new-business bonuses and team pools, so two roles with the same base salary can pay very differently once the year plays out. That's exactly why visibility counts. The same government analysis points to a market focused on higher-level, qualified roles in financial services the 2026 GOV.UK Temporary Shortage List report, and senior brokers read variable pay forensically.
Ask yourself what a good broker needs to know before they'll take you seriously. How is the bonus earned: on individual production, desk performance or firm results? What's the split, and does it change as they grow the book? Is there a threshold before anything pays, and is there a cap? When are payments made, and what happens to unpaid amounts if they leave? Leave those unanswered and you're asking someone to trust a number they can't see.
Start by writing the bonus down the way a broker would explain it to a friend. State the mechanism, the split, the threshold, any cap and the payment timing in the advert or the first conversation, not deep in a final offer. Clarity early filters for people who like your model and screens out those who'd churn once they see the detail.
Then match the structure to the desk. A new-business hunter and a relationship manager holding a mature book respond to different curves, so avoid one blanket scheme. Because financial services recruitment leans towards higher-level, qualified roles according to the 2026 GOV.UK Temporary Shortage List report, be ready to evidence progression: show how the split improves as production climbs. Finally, be consistent. If your advert, your recruiters and your hiring managers describe the bonus the same way, experienced brokers believe you. Mixed messages read as risk.
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