LMM Principal Compensation

Friend of mine has an offer from a MM PE fund as a principal and wanted to get everyone’s take on it here (wasn’t letting him post). Got 8 years of experience and in 2nd tier city
 

750mm 3rd fund. 400k cash + 100bps of carry (out of 100, not the 20)

17 Comments
 

That feels really light to me. I'd expect at minimum $600K cash and carry worth ~$5M+ over the life of the fund, so like 4 percentage points of carry.

Remember, always be kind-hearted.
 

I'm assuming that when he says "100 bps of the 100" means "I will receive 1% of 100% of the carry allocated to the GP" and was clarifying that it wasn't "1% of the 20%".

Here's my math, so correct me where I'm wrong:

750M fund, doubled and capital returned, 750 left over for GP and LPs.

Assume 80/20 split, that means $150M to the GPs.

100bps of $150M is $1.5M.

Again, could be completely misunderstanding the situation--if it's 1% of the 750M, then yeah, 7.5M.

Remember, always be kind-hearted.
 

Thanks. This is helpful. How many years of experience do you have in IB/PE?

 

This feels very light. Senior associate carry at my fund (~$350M, Texas) is 214bps so $1.5M assuming a 2.0x on the fund, so effectively what your friend is getting assuming he has 100bps of carry out of the 20% pool. Principals are double that from what I've gathered ($3.0M DAW, 430bps). No cash comp figures on the principal level but senior associate is ~$300k for us fwiw.  

 

Depends on team size, track record, etc. - from EU benchmarking, should be at least 200 points instead of 100, but with 7-8 years experience more likely to push 300 points. If you have a small team/good economics it can be more than that. Should be $2.5-5m at work backcalculating based on historic track + equity pipeline.

Your friend ought to ask about starting carry and how this builds (doesn't really matter what you start with if there's step-ups in the first 2-3 years).

LBO-modeling companies on a Corona-adjusted normalized proforma run-rate EBITDA basis since 2020.
 

Alias sit eos et quo aspernatur. Culpa ducimus architecto ut recusandae necessitatibus eos autem quia.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Private Equity

  • Blackstone Group 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.3%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Vista Equity Partners 98.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Private Equity

  • Blackstone Group 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.3%
  • The Riverside Company 98.9%
  • Ardian 98.5%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • Blackstone Group 99.3%
  • The Riverside Company 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.2%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (100) $364
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (106) $280
  • 2nd Year Associate (236) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (414) $231
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (97) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (274) $126
  • Intern/Summer Associate (40) $79
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (357) $61
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”