Infrastructure Compensation
How does compensation trajectory at MF infrastructure arms compare to corporate PE? Associate level and over the span of one's career?
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Very close all-in at the associate level and would assume VP+ carry is weighted toward corporate PE with base + cash bonus being very similar.
Would caveat though that many strong infrastructure programs aren't necessarily 2+out, and that real upward mobility exists more frequently in infrastructure. However, there's also not that many infrastructure funds classified as "MF" (most are MM, exceptions being GIP/MIRA/Brookfield/ECP/ISQ/Stonepeak, etc with Canadian pension funds, but we ignore pension fund capital here for this comparison).
And if we study the opportunity cost of those 2 years (100k/year for MBA POST-TAX (so this is pretty close to 180k/year in pre-tax income) to then recruit as a Senior Associate / VP afterward in corporate PE + say, you would be making all-in ~350-400k/year as a Senior Associate promote at the infrastructure fund) is 360 + 750 = 1.1mm. Then you think about the how long it takes to make that $1.1mm up in carry delta and would assume that you would need to be around for at LEAST a full fund life cycle for that to manifest, if it even does (I don't think it does).
So then I think you can think about it as:
Next 2 years - Very similar
Next 5 years - MF infrastructure fund is way ahead
Next 10 years - MF infrastructure fund is still ahead, but a bit closer now
Next 15 years - Probably pretty similar
Next 20 years - Corporate PE probably starts out pacing (but are you really making life decisions based off what compensation might look like 20+ years from now? That's no way to live IMO)
So at the end of the day just go into the field you enjoy the most, and don't worry about the money. If you're truly competitive for either infrastructure or corporate PE opportunities at the MF level, you're set either way.
Also would add that infrastructure as an asset class is expanding beyond traditional core+, transport and conventional energy opportunities, with interest in sustainability / ESG mandates broadening horizons toward renewable energy and "infra-like" companies (smart grid, metering providers, ancillary service providers, etc). So transferrable skills in the way of lateralling toward "corporate" (industrial-focused, tech-focused via enterprise software, etc) could be do-able afterward, and vice-versa as inroads into infrastructure.