Despite experiencing a contraction in financial services and fintech foreign direct investment (FDI) over the course of the first 10 months of 2021 compared to 2020, Germany remains a leader when compared to most other European countries. Since 2016, it has attracted the second-highest number of incoming projects (342) after the UK (708).
However, when it comes to capital expenditure (capex) and job creation, Germany ranks fifth behind the UK, Ireland, Spain and France. Over the past almost six years, FDI into projects in Germany totalled $2.55bn and generated 6139 jobs.
Frankfurt am Main, the country’s financial hub, remained dominant in the financial services sector during the first 10 months of 2021, having the highest number of projects, capex and jobs. Berlin, however, was the top city for the fintech sector in terms of capex and jobs creation, only having received one project fewer than both Frankfurt and Munich.
Finally, while most incoming projects were from the US, in 2021 the Netherlands invested the most in terms of both capex and job creation.
Recent FDI projects in 2021 include: Netherlands-based start-up SurePay establishing a new development team in Germany, while compatriot Peak, an early stage venture capital and private equity firm, has opened its first international office in Berlin; Finland-based Multitude, a global fintech and digital financial services group, has relocated its head office to Hamburg; and three US-based firms — Teneo, a financial advisory firm, HarbourVest Partners, a private markets asset manager, and GCM Grosvenor, an asset management solutions provider — have opened new offices in Frankfurt.
