19 Comments
 

Based on the highest ranked content on WSO, the top of the market base pay varies by position and sector within the finance industry. For example:

  • In the context of endowments and foundations, a base pay for an entry-level analyst at prestigious institutions like Yale or Harvard is around $70k, with bonuses ranging from 10% to 25%. Chief Investment Officers (CIOs) at top endowments and foundations can make a base of $500k to $800k, with total compensation reaching anywhere from $750k to $5mil depending on performance.
  • For investment banking, the base pay for different levels has been reported as follows: Analysts at $95k, Associates at $175k, Vice Presidents (VPs) at $200k, and Directors/Managing Directors (D/MDs) with less relevance given that bonuses are multiples of the base.

It's important to note that bonuses play a significant role in total compensation, often constituting a large portion of the pay package in high finance roles.

Regarding your interest in "1", if you're referring to the base pay for entry-level analysts in endowments and foundations, it's around $70k as mentioned above.

Sources: Analyst pay increase: 95k base yr1, Q&A: Endowments, Foundations, & Asset Allocators, It's Time for a Base Raise, Top Highest Paying REPE, When the **** are Moelis / PJT / PWP / Evercore going to increase base pay?

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

Most MF base around 185k, I haven’t heard of anyone pushing upwards of 200k base

 

Slightly off topic, but bonuses are relatively standardized in PE, yeah? Heard of funds with lower base salaries but with higher total comp (ie MFs like Vista/TB ASO base of 150, but TC north of 350, and Warburg base of 180 but TC also ~350)

 

The reality is that target total associate comp is all within ~30K of each other across all the MFs. The target level performance comp is not significantly higher for any of these shops. The way you get some of the higher end numbers you see thrown (420K+) around is either by being a top performer or being around in a year where deal flow is crazy regardless of which MF you are at. (Source I work at MF and have buddies a number of others)

 

I don’t even think being a “top performer” changes anything materially - as far as ik, MFs/UMMs have completely standardized EoY bonuses, maybe some shadow carry component can boost X Associate over Y associate, but don’t think it’s material or immediate 

 

Apax has the highest base salary I've seen across the megafunds. But a few random MM funds and Brookfield also have high bases.

 

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