2024 PE Associate/VP Net Worth Check

It has been a while since a similar thread has been posted. Would like see how everyone is doing in 2024. Would be helpful to see breakdown of your net worth in the form of 

- Cash

- Brokerage 

- Home

- Retirement

- Carry 

146 Comments
 

Obviously your answer could change a lot during the next few years, 

But I’m just curious - what do you have in mind when you say “something more entrepreneurial” ?

I’m also trying to think of a more entrepreneurial direction.

 

but did they come out ahead on mental wellness is the question....i love my parents dearly but would have gone clinically insane had i had to live with them for 2 yrs under lockdown whilst also doing this job

 

4 YOE, 2 IB (4th full bonus will be at EOY)

Cash Savings/Treasuries: ~$30k
Brokerage: ~$290k
401k: ~$200k

Total: ~$520k

I have to caveat that have done my IB and PE all in Texas, splitting rent with roommates so never paid more than $1,200/month. Think this is a main driver in ability to save so much off my monthly paychecks relative to most in the industry who are NYC.

 

on top of maxing it every year, in banking I contributed my bonus to some after-tax 401k thing and then could do some sort of rollover, think its the backdoor thing  - just know my MD's told me to do it. Then in PE my fund has a pretty generous matching program, then like 10% of my salary/bonus is taken out pre-tax as a "profit share" that goes straight to my 401k in addition to the 22k limit. Then just decent returns. 

 
Most Helpful

Selection bias my friend. Threads like these are generally pretty useless because you’re only going to get the people who feel good about their financial situation posting (I.e., the savers, people with generation wealth / inheritances, lucky investors, etc.). This completely distorts the view of what is “normal” so don’t feel bad at all.

For example, I graduated with a bunch of student loans and had to lateral into banking so my net worth is nowhere near any of the people who have posted numbers. All good though, you can’t change the hand you’ve been dealt and I just try to work on what I have control over.

 

Aso 2 (3 bonus cycles): 625K

- cash 40k

- car: 30k (kbb value, bought in cash)

- watches: 25k

- 401k: 120k

- brokerage: 180k

- Roth IRA: 165k (got lucky with a couple individual stocks)

- coinvest: 65k (held at cost, marked at 1.5x)

lived in LCOL cities in both banking and PE, made above market comp in banking and make below market in PE

 

Okay I’ll just up and say it since no one else here – most of these savings numbers are a lot less impressive when you realize the bulk is coming from parents

 

Senior Associate at MM PC in Chi/Boston. Previously spent 1 year in MM IB and 2 years in MM PC.

- Saving account: $350K, 401K: $30K, Brokerage: $50K, Total: ~$450K.

- Student loans: $80K (down from $120K)

- Survive on $55 per month prepaid phone line I got back in school days, a paid off 2014 Honda and split a large single family with 5 friends for $700 per person every month. Eat whatever I like everyday though. $400 monthly coffee bill, most expensive item I own is the lenovo work laptop.. lol

 

Burner account for obvious reasons. In a post-MBA type of role with 6-8 YOE after BB IB and UMM / MF PE
 

Brokerage: $500K

Retirement: $400K

Other Investments (Crypto, Co-Investments): $150K

Cash: $75K

We have been in the longest bull run with S&P 500 up significantly in the last two years so a lot is also market gains. I would say in this career, earnings are heavily back weighted. I probably made 50% of my savings in the last two years vs. the first 4-6 years. By the way, I did not get any help from parents since graduating high school. Got some student loans left at very low rates which I’m just not paying off.

 

Some of you guys have insane numbers lol. I am definitely not in that category. Graduated with about $50k in student loans and then worked at a shitty boutique for a few years before lateraling to a BB. Just started at an UMM. I have been through 3 real bonus cycles and 2 stub periods. Two of my bonuses were pretty shitty (2022 / 2023). By the way, unless you are graduating, do not let a bank or any firm pay you a stub - negotiate a full payout of your bonus. This really fucked me over twice.

Cash: $10k
Brokerage: $150k
Retirement: $180k

I feel like my expenses are pretty low as a whole, but I also take nice vacations and am in the process of paying for a wedding so that takes up most of my savings at the moment.

 

8 YOE across IB & PE. 1st year in AM where pay was shit, also didn’t get paid a good bonus for the next 3 years for various reasons incl. joining a shit team (MD gave me a shit bonus and then whined that he got 0 bonus that year).

so 3 years of okay-ish bonus?

~750k in HYSA & retirement accounts

~230k in illiquid collectibles (think watches & jewelry, am a chick).

I’ve never invested, thanks to my own idiocy and also all my employers’ insane and inane compliance rules + lack of time to even eat and sleep. So everything is from savings. No help from family other than tuition, but I’ve also given back an equal amount of money, so I guess we’re even.

If it helps anyone feel better, I know people who’ve spent 9 years in IB & PE purely and are not close to 1 buck at all. Save up kids.

 

You’d be right most of the time but I’m not really a bags gal - at least not anymore.

I probably spent ~20k or so on my current stable of bags and it’s not counted in the figure above.

My stuff is more like, vintage art deco / mid century jewelry, rare coloured stones, etc

 

Just finished my Sr. Assoc stint - 3 yrs in consulting and 3 yrs in PE

Total Net Worth: 480K

  • Cash: $160K
  • 401K - 160K
  • Brokerage - $66K
  • Rolex - $10K
  • Carry Dollars - $115K (assumes 2x and a 50% tax rate on DAW
  • Credit Card Debt: ($30K) - got a 2 yr 0 interest card hence the high balance
  • Student Loans: ($20K) - making min payments on federal loans

I'm taking 2 months off in between roles, so expect this to drop a bit. Graduated school with ~$80K in student loans and usually send some cash back home.

 

UMM/MF PE 2nd Yr Associate (now unemployed :( )

Feels insane but I had a lot of help and luck. Parents paid for my college, got one of those crazy internships in college that pays per hour with OT so banked $50k for a summer, bank was one of the EBs that pay out the ass and my investments ripped before banking and before PE. Don't have a gig yet so holding onto the cash from my bonus

Cash: $307k

Brokerage: $209k

401(k): $103k

Coinvest (@ Mark): $96k

Property (Watches, Gold I got when I graduated High School): $55k

Total Net Worth: $760k (- $10k credit card balance)

 

On the public side so maybe not comparable, but in the same age group.

6 YOE, 1 in banking, 5 at HF, $2.6mm NW, ~300k is in retirement accounts (did some backdoor shenanigans a few years), $30k in checking, rest in brokerage. No gold, no watches.

No house, no gf, no expensive car, MCOL/LCOL city. Probably will buy my parents a house soon.

Only been a full-fledged analyst for 3 years and missed out on the upside of the 2020 bonus cycle unfortunately which was a monster year for us, or my NW would probably be double/triple what it is. Hoping we have another year like that soon.

No carry but I'm hoping to become a partner in the fund soon, in the next couple years. Have been told I’m on the right path.

Graduated with no student loans through a full ride scholarship. Paid for fun in college through summer internships. Received no help from parents.

 

I think the comp potential is honestly pretty similar, PE is just a little more backweighted but much much safer.

 Assuming I don’t want to take entrepreneurial risk, at my current fund once I make partner, I’m capped at ~10mm in a great year and 1-3mm in average years once I make partner. Most PE partners will be out earning me in the average year too, once carry from multiple funds starts rolling in. The only difference is that their comp is a lot more stable, guaranteed, and there is real visibility into what their comp will be 5 years down the line. In the HF world, I start each year from 0 and I don’t even have visibility into my comp next year, let alone 5 years down the line.

Most of the people with ~6 YOE on the private side seem to be around $1mm NW themselves and the relative gap between them and me is only going to narrow as they enter these SVP/principal roles in 3-4 years which give ~$1mm cash comp with significant carry and much more stability than any HF seat.

Out of my friends who chose the publics, something that’s not talked about is I think a good portion even of those that were successful regret it. You’re locked into this career, no transferable skills, and you know you will have to work hard everyday for the rest of your career to get paid, and you may still end up losing anyways. In PE, I think there’s a little more coasting on network / built-up expertise / past laurels once you are senior enough.

For me, I never really considered PE because publics is what I’m good at. This is where my skill set lies. And this is what I actually enjoy doing. It’s unfortunate because if I enjoyed PE I think my career would be a lot much stabler.

And one more thing to consider is that I’m objectively in a top decile HF seat. I have everything going for me and my fund and even still, PE may have been a better career choice than this seat for me. In this vein, I’d say PE is much better than the average seat.

 

Call it $500-550k in down / cash in for enhancements. Remaining $400-450k is all appreciation / debt paydown.

Was investing for cash yield on those (relatively, PE pay is low on cash pay vs. IB / HF so wanted to juice up that piece... i generally don't count bonus or carry in my budget and bank it) but got lucky on the appreciation from market (did not underwrite appreciation when purchasing). Generally conservative on investments and don't want to take risk on multiples / cap rates so always assume flat on exit but goes to show that appreciation is really where you make signif amount of dollars in the end. 

 

I'm too old for this but these are interesting to me, figured I'd reciprocate for whatever it's worth.

15 YOE - ~10 PE, 5 IB/consulting (no MBA).  LMM, work 40-60 hrs / week.  All in comp at $400-$450K.

Cash: $70K

After tax brokerage: $1M

401k/IRA/529: $850K

Home equity: $100K 

Total: Little over $2M

Carry: $5M DAW across two funds

Includes having paid off my and my wife's student loans ($300K+).  Also not included in the above is that in the two funds that I am a part of, I have invested $130K+ from the GP commitment (received ~$120K in distributions from the older fund so far).  Distributions have been a little light over the last 2 years but should be on track for some more in the next 6-12 months (knock on wood, probably $200k-$400k), so carry does materialize at some point.

 

Fuck I need to save more. I’m only two years out of school and debt free but my retirement accounts are tiny. Have only had one bonus cycle (got screwed leaving banking) and just put it all in a back door Roth as I was just above the limit last year. Could be in a worse position but damn. Also have about $7K in watches that I’ll never sell. 

I’m really banking on the ~$300K DAW in carry to come through. (Marked to 2x)

 

YOE: 6 - 2 banking and 4 PE

Cash: $25k

Brokerage: $850k total ($600k after-tax brokerage / $250k retirement)

Co-Invest / Other Direct Investments: ~$150k (marked at cost of funded $'s to date)

Other: ~$100k (Car / Watches / Jewelry)

Total Net Worth: ~$1.0M

DAW: $2.5M @ 2x MoM (historically a top decile fund, but probably another 2-3 years before seeing first meaningful carry check) 

 

VP3 (9 YoE; 5yrs pre MBA)

Cash / Savings: $100k

Money Market: $250k

Brokerage: $300k

401(k) (spouse, lol my fund doesn't have one): $125k

Co-Investments (net of leverage, marked at cost): $150k

Spouse private unicorn equity: $100k? Who knows it's probably zero

Primary residence (net of mortgage, offer in hand): $600k

Miscellaneous (watches, jewelry, cars): $100k

NW: $1.625mm (excluding spouse vested illiquid equity)

Definitely have a huge liquidity bias.

 

Newly minted 1st Year Associate (2 YoE), 1.5 IB bonus cycles (first year was paid as stub)

Worked at MM IB in NYC, and recently moved to T2 city for MM PE. Paid below street in both bonus cycles.

Total: $130k

Brokerage: ~$40k

401k: ~$12k

Cash: ~$18k

Car (kbb value), paid off: $60k

 

5 Years of Experience (2x BB IB, 3 MF PE). My first $100K went to student loans.

Total Net Worth: $375K

  • Cash: $150K (liquid for my wedding and house down payment)

  • Brokerage: $20K Crypto

  • Retirement: $100K 

  • Private Equity Co-Invest: $60K ($40K in my fund; $20K in another MM fund); at cost

  • Angel Investment: $20K

  • Car: $25K (offer received; in the process of selling)

 

Contributing as a point of reference for fellows here:

- Based somewhere in Asia, 8 YOE (2 in IB, 6 in PE)

- Current SVP at non-MF fund, all-in comp ~$420K, but at a lower tax rate than the US

- Net worth: ~US$2.5M (mainly across 2 properties, excluding mortgages)

- Savings/Brokerage/etc: not much, probably less then US$500K all together, given i just put it all into a house

- Carry DAW: ~US$5m from 2 funds, with about 40% of that likely to realize in ~2-3 years

- Tips: Have lived by a old tip in the industry, do whatever you want with your salary, but SAVE YOUR BONUSES. Over 10 year horizon, saving and correctly investing bonuses, plus some lucky co-investments and property market movements, you start to see your pool get to a good size for further accretion.

Good luck!

 

Ignore title - 5 YoE (2 Banking, 3 PE...1 stub banking bonus, 1 full banking bonus, 2 full PE bonuses, 1 stub PE bonus)

Cash - $10k (sweep to this every month)

Stocks - $305k (got lucky with a few)

Co-invest - $380k (marked at cost)

401k - $190k

Personal Loan: $70k (First Republic Loan at 2.5%...took out to fund co-invest / public investment)

Total Net Worth - $815k

 

8 YOE total. 3rd year VP at a LMM which I joined during fund 1, so have been under market for most of my career sadly.

- $100K between cash and taxable brokerage 

- $270K across retirement accounts

- $100K coinvest

- $300K in home equity (purchased earlier this year, so really this is just the down payment) 

~$3.5M of DAW across two funds

So just under $800K which feels somewhat sad seeing the rest of the answers, although I really only started making meaningful cash comp in the last two years, live in a VHCOL city, and this year in particular has been a high spend year between buying a house, renovations, and engagement / wedding related stuff.

 

VP3 in IB, went A to A.

~$1.9mm when including pre-tax 401k. Most of it is in high yield savings since I’ve been pretty risk averse unfortunately, but ~30% in index funds.

Additional $400-500k in deferred comp (will be taxed).

 
Leverage Hero

VP3 in IB, went A to A.

~$1.9mm when including pre-tax 401k. Most of it is in high yield savings since I’ve been pretty risk averse unfortunately, but ~30% in index funds.

Additional $400-500k in deferred comp (will be taxed).

This is really high. Is this an EB and are you very frugal?

Thanks - yes to both.

 

Lol, so true. If you just give a bunch of detailed assumptions it can model it pretty well for you.

 

12 - 14 years of experience primarily in credit. no MBA

~2.5MM net worth - 25% co-invest (i dont get carry), 25% stocks (inc. 401k which is small), other 50% is a lot of crypto and VC investments (marked at cost if illiquid)

 

10 YOE: 2 IB + 8 PE (skipped MBA), all at firms paying top of the street in NYC

NW: $4.1mm across cash, brokerage, vested stock, co-invest at mark

Not included in the above is $1.2mm of "earned" carry (i.e., at current marks). The dollars at work are much higher but not relevant since they are performance-dependent and time vested.

I had no student loans, but I paid off loans and provided other assistance for family members amounting to almost 600k over the years

 

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