Average PE Base Salary
I know it probably varies a lot but any idea if there's an "average" base pay for a first year pre-MBA associate at MF and UMM funds? The way 85k is the normal base for first year BB IB analysts, is there a general range your base should be?
I've generally seen between $100k and $150k base (usually $120k to $140k, hear $125k a lot) in the UMM space (with greater variation in bonuses and co-invest policies). Have seen $150k at a handful of firms and wouldn't be surprised if there are some that pay more but probably not by much. Not something you asked for but our base pay moves up by $10k between first and second year but the bonus can increase rather significantly (all-in comp at some funds between first and second year might only scale by ~$10k).
Thank you, this is very helpful. Related to this, if you have co-invest opportunities as a pre-MBA associate, but most people tend to leave before the investments would be exited, does that at all affect whether people choose to invest? Or do people view that as irrelevant (which I guess it kind of is irrelevant since you don’t lose your investment when you leave)?
I think that is generally irrelevant. Some people may shy away from co-investing for some opportunities because they want to preserve some liquidity (particularly those planning to go to business school) but most associates at my firm are somewhat aggressive with the co-invest policy even though the vast majority will leave after two years (although even that trend is changing a bit). Even if you were to quit within 2 years, I believe you would still keep all of your co-invest although I know at least one firm that "claws back" your co-invest if you don't stay through the end of your contract.
I don't worry about whether or not I leave, but my biggest hangup with co-investing is being overindexed to my employer, and that if things go south I don't want to lose both my income and my assets in a single fell swoop. My upside isn't big enough to take partner-like risks without partner-like returns. I still do co-invest because I believe in the fund and I like having some alignment on the deals (and returns are great if it works out), but I just limit the % of assets I have tied to my employer
100-150k is normal. Bonus is really where differentiation is (e.g. 100k at MM vs. 300k at Apollo)
Worked in LMM where base was $100k ($180k all-in), lateraled to MM where 1st year base was $125k ($250k all-in). In both cases it increased by $20k total each year (split 50/50 base/bonus)
What was the fund size of each if you don’t mind
Fund I - $250M-$500M
Fund II - $1bn-$1.5bn
Were both of these ny/sf or lower cost of living cities like chicago
First was a Tier 2 city, second was NY/SF
interesting - did you lateral after 2 years or perhaps in the 1st?
After two years
My LMM went 95 -> 100 -> 110. Fund size $500-$1bn
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what did carry/bonuses look like for you?
This is v helpful. We’re bonuses 100% of base each year
At a MF, base is $120k for all years as associate (YoY change in comp strictly through bonus)
which MF is this?
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