Benchmarking MF PE Associate Salaries (2025)
Given latest thread is a little outdated, wanted to restart this. Looking to get figures for where MF Associate 1 salaries are coming out in 2025. Here's the latest I've seen.
Megafund Associate 1 Salary (Base / Bonus):
Warburg Pincus aso2 $200k aso3 $230k vp1 $325k with $25k increments
Warburg target bonus is 100% of base aso1-3. Also surprised at Blackstone, had heard they were at the lower end of street
public + brand name
Believe vista also includes a shadow carry component … so no exit year is ~320 tops but good years can clear $400 from what I have heard anecdotally
would be great to be corrected, but heard shadow carry was 0 past year?
Correct
apax is higher than posted
how much is it then?
Curious about the European MFs (EQT / CVC, etc.)
Heard anecdotally that HG base is 210 for ASO1 and bonus target is 80% for their large cap fund ($12B fund)
surprised to hear that Euro funds are paying top of street and in many cases even better than US funds. another thread points to Nordic at 380 ASO1. Those numbers are higher than BX and KKR
Is this contracted or actual paid out! Typically get paid more than you’re contracted for
Carlyle higher than posted. Know multiple associates at $200k+ bonus.
Think above is for ASO1. If associates are pushing close to 400, that is phenomenal for DC where COL is way lower.
Surprised how they can pay so high even with returns compressing
How does that scale to for Senior Associate?
Bain cap at 370 for Associate 1
whats the split between base/bonus?
split is 150 /220
Second this, they did a bump recently to 370 (think special sits is 350, 150/200)
How does it scale up for ASO2 and ASO3 and are perks similar to BX below ?
Was this the bonus last year or how do we know about this bump for both special sits and NAPE?
BX is worse…it’s $140K base for aso1. Unsure what bonus is
the BX discount as they say
Heard perks are alright with $20 lunch and $35 dinner.
All-in maybe in the mid 300s?
does anyone have sixth street global opps?
another thread said close to 400
Why is warburg so high ?
Very sweaty over there but also great Bschool exits
Sweatier than Apollo ?
Lol IB associate’s at EBs fully above most of these MF’s.
which EBs are higher? isnt standard for EVR Moelis ASO 1 around 300-350?
CVP, PWP, PJT, EVR pay $400K+ for ASO1 (not including stub bonus, A2A bonus, etc.)
Analyst at MOE here, but associates at least in my group made 400
All of them. Can personally confirm PJT / PWP / MOE are $400K minimum for ASO1.
CVP / EVR definitely are as well.
Yea but it’s banking
Sure but the job is easy at that point clearing $400K vs stressfully debating every number at ur dying software fund that’s gunna kick out all associates next year
Lolololol
EB ASO 1 is a level higher than PE ASO 1 since most EBs have analyst 3. Not comparable
Info on Ares Credit/PE?
Ares Credit is $165 base / $205 bonus for ASO 1
$370 all-in for ASO1 is heck of a lot for credit to be working less hours than PE
Is there a stub for first ~5 months?
Hg is 208 base + 160 bonus
what's up with this Hg glaze campaign going on, every remotely tangential thread has someone commenting this
They pay well and are a top tier tech shop, which as a sector has a lot of interest. They are also doing pretty great with recent fundraising unlike a lot of other PE firms. There are a lot of firms that get more glaze than them, particularly the young UMM type firms, that are more unjustified than Hg glaze.
EB tech AN2 here - pre saaspocalyspe, it seemed like the new FP. Fund size doubling, room for internal mobility, also just better perks bc they’re European and was one of the few software funds in NYC. So for software PE, it was a good UMM name.
Not sure what it’s like now given saaspocalyspe
They are similar fund size as FP for flagship fund and their overall fund size across their funds is actually larger than FP. They are THE European software investors, but yes they are newer in the US. I mean if you want to do tech; it's not like the SaaSpocalypse is going to materially change where Hg is viewed as everyone in tech is impacted. If more sector-agnostic, I agree it makes a difference; but there isn't many funds with over 20bn across their funds and over 10bn in their large cap fund (pretty sure they pay the same across all three though).
Yeah I meant to comment that I don’t think Hg is a particular WSO glazing situation but a genuinely coveted group for tech PE, esp since they’re one of the few $10B+ software funds in NYC.
Hg seemed to be on the UMM-pushing-MF trajectory that Veritas NMC FP (funds WSO also loves to glaze, though justifiably so) was on, doubling fund size every 3 years with room for internal mobility.
I’m in an EB tech group in NYC and when I was recruiting for 2026 roles (pre SaaSpocalyspe), it was a pretty coveted spot for tech PE. Primarily because the usual software suspects like TB, Vista, FP aren’t in NYC (also, Vista and FP don’t place you until after you start associate, so it’s a gamble to see whether you get flagship), H&F is notorious for two and out, so it really only leaves a handful of $10B+ NYC tech names to choose from. Also, they would market their EU perks a lot (offsites, benefits) which admittedly sounds cool.
Not sure how the 2027 and 2028 classes see Hg, but it seemed like a good spot for tech PE prior to the selloff
EB tech AN2 here - pre saaspocalyspe, it seemed like the new FP. Fund size doubling, room for internal mobility, also just better perks bc they’re European and was one of the few software funds in NYC. So for software PE, it was a good UMM name.
Not sure what it’s like now given saaspocalyspe
Any info on SL?
any numbers for GA or TA?
does co-invest or phantom carry look different given sourcing component?
Bump
Saw TPG comp on a thread. Is this the updated? And what does scaling look like at most MFs for ASO2 and 3?
"$130k base first 5 months + $180k stubbed
$140k base first full year + $250k
$150k base the next year + $270k
When you come in you get a $25k bonus then $180k or $185k stubbed (so let’s say you get $75k your first December). So that’s $100k + let’s just say half of $130k base (even though it’s 5 months) = $165k. Then the next full year is $390k TC so half is $195k. So total “first year” is $360k. “Second year” the blended is closer to $410k."
this feels like in the right ballpark based on what i know from people who worked there a few years ago. base is going to be more in the $140-150 range, not $170 that's in op
What is updated for Advent or H&F?
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