How Much Do MF PE Headhunters make?

How Much Do MF PE Headhunters make? 

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It's quite a broad range.

Juniors with two years of exp or less may make $60k-$70k.

For people with 5 years or more experience, it's not unusual for them to make $250k+. Top billers (top 5%) will clear $500k consistently.

It depends on the firm they are at, some have more generous commission structures. The same person can make hundreds of thousands less due to a bad commission structure. All recruitment firms will work on a draw structure in one way or another (small-ish base salary paid back before entitled to bonuses). 

The bad reputation recruiters have is totally deserved. There is no barrier to entry and the market is saturated (even more so in London than other markets). Unless a recruiter is retained with a fund, the only thing they care about is getting people in front of the client. Funds will often engage multiple headhunters which creates a horrible mess in the market - it becomes a race. So I guess funds are also in part to blame. 

But, if a recruiter is elite, they can make comparable numbers to investment professionals of their age in funds. 

 

Saw the above thread recently. Currently looking to break into HH and was wondering if anyone could clarify the full scope of responsibilities for junior roles, especially regarding bonus structures. From what I understand, juniors typically handle execution rather than bringing in clients. How does that affect the bonus structure at this level, if any?

 

Not an answer to your question, but for context, a recruiting firm typically gets 25-35% of the full-year comp (base and bonus) of the candidate they place, at least for private equity placements. I recall executive placements are on the higher end (30-35%).

These fees obviously become the revenue to a recruiting firm, just not sure how recruiting firm owners distribute these proceeds.

 

Not PE but for exec recruiting they get 30-50% of the total first year comp of the person they place. Know a COO at a public company who is making $3mn+ and the HH made 7 figures in off the one placement. It’s a boutique firm too that they started after working at a big one like Russel for a decade. It’s like the often ignored but gem of client services type industries. 

 

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