MM BD people make LSD/MSD $m??

I had no idea they were paid that well ($1-5m). Figured the really high end would be ~$1m.

Recent BI article someone sent: “Senior BD professionals now commonly earn more than $1 million annually, with some top execs making north of $5 million, BD execs and headhunters familiar with the market said. Midlevel BD professionals can earn $500,000 and $700,000, these people estimated.”

Seems like a really solid exit for senior analyst / junior PM close to blowing up with big Rolodex. Can anyone verify these #s (does sound really high)? Had no idea. A lot more then I make

29 Comments
 

Because it sucks. I’m not really getting paid until I’m 40-45, Ive been doing this for 10 years and work at a mega fund - yes, I can barely afford to raise a family and kids in NYC with my cash comp…

No one talks about it but yes it sucks. If you’re not prepared to do this for 25 years minimum and are foolish enough to think you’ll be the 1 guy out of 30 to make partner, then don’t pursue this career. Yeah I could be in great shape if I lived in Kansas and didn’t have to pay for private school and Hampton house rent and an NYC mortgage and a wife with zero spending limits. It’s just not what you expect it to be

Would have been way happier in a public markets role

 

Do you not think the risk adjusted pay is worth it? When I was a sophomore I turned down top banking in favor of one of the pod shop programs as I was interested in public markets long term, but have realized that PE is pretty attractive risk-adjusted.

 

Sure it might be worth it on an absolute level, even if you probability-adjust for the 1/30 odds of being a partner, but I think it’s lower than most of the HF people I know. Comparing top HFs to top PE here - my HF friends are loaded compared to me / my illiquid NW

Obviously pursue what you’re most interested in / money will follow, but I like aspects of public and private markets and simply made the wrong choice. Now I’m feeling the bad end of that

 
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My richest friends ($100m+ net worth) in the same age range (mid 30s) are startup CEOs / friends from college that inherited FU money

Of my finance friends, the richest are HFs, but there’s an extremely wide range. The richest ones I know are 1. Guys who spun-out pretty young and got seeded with 150-200mm, did really well over the following years, and now run $400-700mm funds where they own 75% of the GP (and have had their fair share of 30%+ years), and 2. MM guys who had a few years where they just absolutely crushed it and then got huge guarantees at other funds. These are people who’ve made over 8 figures more than once and could retire today -- $15-30m net worth by mid 30s. The one SM that I’d put in this category is Melvin, those guys were also paid mind-boggingly well

For the ones I would put at $5-10mm net worth, I’d say it’s a mix of my MM and SM friends, but afaik, none of my SM friends are in that first category. Being worth $7m by mid 30s is a really good outcome. This is kind of like your average/decent guy at a large SM or good MM, not a top performer and not a senior person in a real risk taking seat. These guys have staying power and are still doing really well. This is someone making $1-3mm a year

 

Because maybe they aren’t the ones that are responsible for closing the deal? Ultimately it’s the business head that is closing the PM not the BD person.  
 

I don’t know how much BD people get paid. There’s always outliers so I wouldn’t be surprised if a handful of people in the industry got paid that much as they get the equivalent economics of someone who owns a search firm but I would be really surprised if the L-MSD is the right anchor point for most BD people 

 

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