London PE Principal pay

How much would someone at a fund like CD&R or WP in London roughly make in cash comp as a Principal? Genuinely just curious - feel like Heidrick & Struggles figures are probably off due to being grouped with non-buyout strategies

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Based on the most helpful WSO content, a Private Equity Principal in London at a large-cap fund like CD&R or Warburg Pincus (WP) typically earns around $676k in total average compensation. This figure includes both cash compensation and carry.

For cash compensation specifically, it would likely fall in the range of $400k to $500k, with the remainder coming from carry. Carry allocations at this level are often 25-40 bps, depending on the size of the fund.

Sources: PE Comp Question - VP / Principal Level, Private equity comp in London?, EB VP Comp vs PE VP Comp, Q&A: European PE professional at a Large-cap Megafund, Q&A: Equity Analyst at a Sovereign Wealth/Pension Fund

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Assuming you mean for the VP level (Warburg post-asso is VP whereas for CD&R it is Principal). These guys likely pay the same as NYC converted to GBP so in the 500-600k GBP range. DAW should be around $5-10m. These are educated guesses based on their comp policy at the associate level.

Question is do they pay enough? Absolutely not given every day is spa day there.

 
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Honestly it was speculation but WP/CDR ASO1 comp is already near that range (£300k first year at WP, a bit less at CDR), and assume there is a sizeable bump to VP hence the number I punched above. Triangulates well with Heidrick & Struggles comp data for North America if they pay you same as USD and convert to GBP.

Numbers that headhunters have guided me too also show that MF VP comp ranges from 350-600, so assumed that WP & CDR would be close to the top of the range.

DAW should also be materially higher for those two funds.

 
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