Apollo Compensation
What exactly is Apollo’s compensation for PE associates, principals, and partners? There’s always rumors and whispers about what they are paid but would love to hear some actual data. Are 1st year PE associates actually clearing 550k with 100k increases each incremental year?? Read somewhere that principals clear 2-4mm a year and partners clear 20-25mm+. Can anyone share any insight regarding this?
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's a detailed breakdown of Apollo's compensation across various positions as of September 2023:
Private Equity Principal: The average total compensation is reported to be around $676,000. This figure encompasses base salary, bonuses, and any additional compensation but does not specify the exact breakdown between these components.
Director/MD (Managing Director): Directors or MDs at Apollo have an average total compensation of approximately $599,000. Similar to the principal level, this includes all forms of compensation without detailing the specific amounts allocated to salary versus bonuses.
Vice President: The average total compensation for a Vice President at Apollo is about $363,000. This role, positioned between associates and the senior leadership, receives a comprehensive compensation package that reflects their experience and responsibilities.
3rd+ Year Associate: Associates with more than three years of experience at Apollo have an average total compensation of $277,000. This suggests significant growth in compensation with tenure within the associate rank.
2nd Year Associate: For those in their second year, the average total compensation slightly decreases to $266,000, indicating a progression in earnings as associates gain more experience.
1st Year Associate: First-year associates at Apollo start with an average total compensation of $227,000. While this is a substantial amount, it's important to note that it includes all forms of compensation and reflects the demanding nature of the role.
Regarding the specific figures you mentioned, such as 1st year PE associates clearing $550k with $100k increases each year, and principals and partners earning in the millions, the provided data does not support those exact numbers. It's possible that total compensation could reach higher figures with exceptional performance, bonuses, or other discretionary payouts, but the averages provided offer a more general perspective.
It's also worth noting that compensation in private equity can vary widely based on the firm's performance, the individual's performance, and other discretionary factors. The figures mentioned are averages and may not represent the ceiling or floor for potential earnings at Apollo.
Sources: From Private Equity Associate to VP in Private Equity, More negative press on Apollo, Is Apollo that bad?, Apollo is revamping recruiting and softening its culture. Here's a look., Apollo London - What's it like?
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My man is arguing with a bot LOL
Comp in London is GBP 325k for first year Associates. Principals clear GBP 800k-1m.
Do you know how that is split between base, bonus, carry, etc for principals?
This is cash. Base + bonus. Carry on top of the GBP 800k-1m.
You have any insight on how credit comp compares to this?
JFC, i'm on half that as a senior assoc lol at a big infra GP. y'all hiring?
Half that being $400-500k TC or $1mm-$2mm? lol
Not USD? Seems very high for assoc1
Do you know if comp is same across all strategies for investment professional Associates? I.e PE vs. credit vs. infra vs. real estate?
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Bump
I worked at APO. Lol principals do not have $10m+ in carry not sure who made that up
Feel like you’re lying - Hendricks compensation report shows that MF principals have on average 14m in carry with 40m on the high end. Don’t think it’s far fetched to say that a firm with the known highest paying PE comp and extremely lean teams would have principals with 20m in carry
Don’t really know what to say. Worked there for 2 years and some of my close friends are still there.
You’re conflating title with actual role / work done / deals led. I can promise you that someone with 4-6 YOE (an APO principal) has nothing near $10m in carry. Principal title means different things at different firms. It’s just a title, and at most firms it’s a more senior title.
Generalizing but think of senior partner at APO = traditional partner title elsewhere, and perhaps partner at APO = MD / director / principal title (whatever is below “partner”) at comparable firms. Just a title folks.
Also, a carry DAW figure almost never ends up actually being realized. Always some stipulation so if I had to put a number on it, if you want a reasonable estimate for what someone would end up taking home, take DAW * 0.5-0.6, then when you take out cap gains tax it ends up being a lot less than half your total DAW.
Then you have to roll those distributions into the next fund so you don’t end up touching any that money. And I can promise you APO principal DAW is not close to $10m in the first place. It’s really, really frustrating for people in their 30s / early 40s and makes it hard to start a family.
What’s driving the coefficient you apply on the DAW?
Appreciate there is merit in conservatism but realistically should the fund deliver over 2.1x (to factor in fees) the realized pre-tax carry should be above DAW no?
Not the above posted and I never worked in PE but friends that have received carry distributions have been paid nothing remotely close to their quoted DAW, so my guess is 1. having GP stake owner / being public / someone taking a large chunk of the carry effectively cutting the carry pool in half, 2. Hurdle rate / non fee-generative deductions to the gross return, 3. Weird stipulations in carry docs, 4. Not deploying the full $ amount of the fund - people can play games with reported fund MOIC and actual MOIC when considering total cash in the fund
For example: partner friend at a megafund had 30mm in DAW at a fund with similar performance to what you asked (~2x), and all his pre-tax distributions summed to like 11mm over the life of the fund, and he had to commit almost all of that to the next fund. Other friends really similar. I’d even say 0.5-0.6 coefficient seems high
You want to be the guy running the fund / selling a stake to a GP buyer and cashing out with hundreds of $M / designing carry docs for those below you that ensure you maximize your piece of the pie, not the guy who works his was up the latter for his 50bps carry allocation
This right here. My advice is always take the number you are giving and just divide it by 2
Its even tougher when the fund wants you to put in significant $$s to the next fund before the prior fund even hits carry.
Ignore the title - can also confirm that figure is way too high for a first year principal. Note that there isn’t a VP title at Apollo
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