Comp exposure to AUM growth?

Think about it this way instead... you have grinded for 20yrs straight. Probably have had to forego other things in life like relationships. You had a boss who crapped all over you, and then he made like $100mn during the peak one cycle, primarily off of all of your ideas. Yea you did ok maybe $1.5mn that year but nothing to retire on... not in NYC. 

So you get the hunger to take a shot on your own, with a decent check from boss number 2, and then throwing everything you're worth into the fund. Your wife agrees to go along and you delay getting the home you wanted. First few years you don't get to keep a lot yet... but that's ok because fund is cooking. 

Now you've grinded for another 10yrs straight and hit $1.5bn. You're on house 2, vacation house 1, and sitting pretty well, but now you have a real chance at the big life (ya know, the palm beach types). Just another few years of good returns and some AUM inflows and everything comes together. Just a few more years of swinging big, before the shot clock is up, or the cycle turns, or the LPs get anxious. 

You've also hired a dozen or so analysts over the years now. You know they come and go, but true talent is tough to find. You trust your number 2 and 3 deeply, because you have to spend so much time running the business and managing positions you can't be deep on the weeds on every name. 

Eventually you hire "Research Analyst in HF - Other Senior Monkey" as the newest guy, analyst number 9 or 10. 3yrs go by and returns have been very solid and you raised another $600mn or so and are sitting around $3-$3.5bn now. 

You probably have 60% of the GP, cus 20% went to your old boss, another 15% to your number 2 over the years, and then you've given away 3%-5% here and there to the killers. 

How much would you pay your junior analyst who has been along for the ride? Did you give him pts in the GP? 

The problem is $1mn is still $1mn, as is $5mn, as is $10mn. Yes maybe you got rich and are going to earn like $70mn this year. But are you going to dump some big sums of money into people just for being along for the ride?

You took all of the risk, you managed the whole book, you figured out position sizing, you levered up the right beta and factor at right times... 

Such is the comp game. Lots have been written here. Sometimes people pay as little as possible to keep talent from leaving, other times they care about fostering a long term commitment to team work. Generally you'll get paid some fraction of the true value you deliver to your boss (rarely all of it, and never more than it). Most overestimate the value they contributed.