Mid-level comp and net worth check
Looking to benchmark mid-level (VP / Principal) comp and net worth. Would appreciate structured responses similar to the below:
- Age: 31
- Title: VP2
- Fund size: ~$1-2bn
- Industry: Generalist
- Geography: NYC
- Years of experience: 8
- Base: $300k
- Bonus: $300k
- Total comp: $600k
- Carry (% and DAW): 0.15% and ~$300k (prior fund), 1% and ~$4M (latest fund)
- Realized carry (include annualized): ~$700k, ~$100k per year
- Annual savings rate: ~50-60% (full bonus and some base)
- Current net worth (including and excluding unrealized carry): $1.5M excluding unrealized carry, $6M including unrealized carry
- Liquid vs. illiquid breakdown: $1M liquid, $0.5M illiquid (including co-invest), $3.5M unrealized carry
- % of NW from comp vs. investments vs. carry: ~50% comp, ~30% carry, ~20% investments
- Use of leverage: None
- Net worth progression (e.g., 25 / 30 / 35): ~$250k 25 / ~$1M 30
- Expected NW in 5–10 years: ~$6M in 5 years and ~$15M in 10 years depending on carry and return on savings
If you're more senior / an MD, please add your data points too so us mid-levels have something to look forward to
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here’s a structured response to benchmark mid-level (VP/Principal) compensation and net worth:
Example Benchmark:
This structure aligns with the data points shared in WSO threads and provides a clear, actionable benchmark for mid-level professionals.
Sources: PE Comp Question - VP / Principal Level, How much money do you make?, Vice President Fund Carry/Equity, Net worth of Private Equity associates, PE interview at VP / Principal level
Can you do stress / burnout check? Any thoughts or wants or feelings to jump to Corp dev or strategic finance or something?
isn't $600k gross comp = just slightly above $300k after taxes and insurance? how do you manage to save it all?
No this isn't right. This is a small pet peeve of mine. People keep saying you pay 50% of your income to taxes, it's not even close since these are marginal tax rates.
E.g. me and wife made ~$715k in w2 income last year (after deducting for 401K, insurance, and other pre-tax deductions etc.) and we paid $180k of federal taxes and ~$50k of NY taxes (no city tax b/c i don't live in the city).
to Truly pay close to 50% in taxes, you need to have such a high income that most of your income is in the highest tax bracket. I think this number is closer to $3m (assuming you live in NYC)
These figures are absolutely bananas, even for early/mid 30s…
What would you have expected? These outcomes seem average unless you're assuming someone isn't saving their full after-tax bonus each year and their funds don't award any carry until post-VP
Not really. Most of the wealth is paper money. Seems pretty standard for 30s in high finance imo
Not really given the bulk of it is unrealized vested carry ( at 2.0x MOIC likely) - doesn’t translate into net of tax liquid net worth, far from it.
If you look at DPI and wider private markets trend, you would see that realising the carry is far from a certainty.
That makes sense; I’m just not sure I’d count unrealized carry in my net worth calc. DPI could take half as long or three times as long or never at all. Along with this, add the fact that a fund has a million outs to not pay you your carry if you do leave before it is realized.
Maybe have the debate elsewhere. No one says he counts it. It’s literally requested in the intro post. For people in PE this is useful info
Agreed. In a bit of a different part of the industry but personally don't view my unrealized carry as "real" until it hits my bank account..
Popped a boner seeing that
I came seeing this
mind if I PM, I am trying to break into secondaries rn.
what was the career path to allow you to be P2 at 30?
Short answer is that there was less structure in the early days at a young firm! Led a relatively large deal while securing some meaningful commitments as an associate with 3.5 YOE for the VP promote.
Can you share more context on the specific strategy within secondaries?
This feels more VC secondaries than private equity secondaries. Are you are buying shares in tech companies from founders, investing in continuation vehicles, some combination?
It also seems like you were an early employee at the firm and it worked out?
Tilted much more heavily towards PE secondaries. "Growth-ier" secondaries are opportunistic (earlier stage companies are generally tough) and are a result of demand from our investor base (mostly institutional, but a meaningful pocket of HNW/retail investors).
Correct, I was an earlier employee.
Is this a large firm or a small one or a mid sized firm? Sorry for my ignorance.
Banking peer nobody asked for…
Y1 Director
Total comp: $825k last year as VP3
Total NW (all liquid outside of 401k): $1.7mm
Save my bonus which comes out to $200-$300k per year now usually
Is this at a BB or EB?
BB
how are hours when you are a director?
I feel like such a loser. I am age 31 with 2.6 liquid (stocks/cash) and primary residence equity of 900k. I only make ~250k right now because I had to step into a lower role. I feel so behind financially and just hope to retire without worries.
kys if you are being serious
Look at the economy man, it's bad out there. Inflation has destroyed me.
Shocked by these figures honestly…
Age: 32
Level: VP2
Location: NYC
NW: $1.1m (excl carry). Estimated carry payout of $800k over next 3 years (probably 500-600k payout post tax).
Base plus bonus: 450K
Probably going to leave the industry, just burnt out. Unsure about next steps… fortunate my wife’s net worth excl. carry is similar (in Fortune 500)
What fund size are you? Would guess LMM / ~$1 billion or so?
I'm similar age / position in PE. Not burnt out but think I have a good WLB relative for PE (50-60ish hours per week). If I was 70+ consistently I would probably feel the same. Don't have kids but want to soon which will make me want more free time (but also want more comp lol)
At a $2B fund shop. Honestly, probably working 60 hours or less but just disillusioned by deal chasing and closing 0.0001% of the time. Looking to build something.
Lower net worth may also be because I started in consulting in a Tier 2 city but didn't think that would impact that much...idk
May I ask what kind of role your wife is doing in the Fortune 500?
Data science
Age: 29 (30 in a month)
YoE: 5 + 2 years b-school ($50k remaining debt)
Area: PC
Size: $15-30bn across firm
Max Pay in a Year: $325k
NW: ~$1.25mm (70% brokerage / 30% IRA)
Probably will try to get to $2.5mm in a few years between compounding and higher pay. At that point may try to get out of finance altogether
lucky on some investments or does this include vested carry? Math ain’t mathing otherwise
lol same thought here. lifetime comp here is like 1.5M at the high end (likely way lower)
No carry and no lucky investments. Just consistent investing from the start and disregarding the “spend your base, bank your bonus” mentality
ill give my info at risk of looking broke af comared to some of you
Age: 28, almost 29
I've lived a good life in PE (50-60hour weeks, annual vacation to europe) though definitely not compmaxxing. hope to hit $1M after this year's bonus
Thanks for sharing I would say this much more approximates something that makes sense for many in finance and not just the couple self-selectors who post stuff that is inflated or benefiting from unusual circumstance like family money etc
yea, i should specifiy that i save 40-50% of my post tax earnings these days. was much lower in banking because i blew a lot of it on expensive rent in NY + having fun. savings rate in banking was probably like 20-25% off a much lower base. i also did not save the full 40-50% in each of the ASO years either
How much does going to business school affect your net worth around the age of 30? Guessing impact of $500k-$1M?
I think that’s the right ballpark. I should hit or get very close to 1M net worth with bonus this year (31 yo). Think I would have close to double if I didn’t go to school particularly with the incredible market return period I missed
Looking at this being based in the UK and i'm like wtf
Age: 30
YOE: 9
Title: VP4
Fund Size: $1-2B
Base: $350
Bonus: $550
Total Cash Comp: $900k
Savings Rate: Save a bit of cash month to month over the year, but fully invested 100% of bonus every single year
Carry: $13M DAW ($0 received to date and likely long dated payouts)
Current Net Worth: ~$3M excl all carry; $1.2M brokerage + $0.2M cash + $0.7M primary residence + $0.6M retirement accounts + $0.3M private investment (funded co-investment held at cost + some other SPV vehicles)
Great results. Mind sharing what kind of city?
And for your PE firm, that's great comp for a senior VP? Did you start as an associate or lateral down-market from MF?
Age: freshly 28
Liquid vs. illiquid breakdown: $90k cash, ~$600k liquid brokerage, $380k retirement accounts
Pretty consistently logging 70+ hour weeks year round, run into periods of heavy-burnout and question what I am doing with my life a lot of the time. Would be sick to get to $2m at 30 then re-assess things career-wise, that hinders a lot on market returns tho so who knows.
Really appreciate the last paragraph you threw in more than you know. Makes it feel so much more human. I’m earning well now too and a bit younger than you (26) and want to GTFO so bad.
Have to be honest with myself man, I can tell you that I don't regret how i spent these 6 years post grad as I've learned and grown professionally a shit ton, met some incredibly successful and intelligent people, and have overall great experience/resume that I can leverage in the future. But I see the job for what it is and have pretty much come to terms that the likelihood of this being my long term career aren't high - I think you just have to love this shit (emphasis on shit) and somehow view the weeks of 18 hour days in the trenches as genuinely fun/exciting if you want to make it long term. Don't think I'm ever gonna get there, but I can grind out a few more years.
Granted I'm at a startup fund, but age-wise, I'm right here with you guys and unfortunately have to comp myself to VP/Principal given our available budgeting.
I've done growth and LMM my whole career, so I kinda regret my net worth given what I'm seeing above, but I have an epic role now and it's only because of my past. Zero bosses, full control of my schedule, roll into the office whenever I want, leave whenever I want, travel whenever I want, haven't worked a weekend in years and I'm usually out of the office by 4-5pm and might open a few emails after. Gives and takes I suppose.
Also, another factor to consider versus other comments is I assume you have some ownership of the management company? Which, depending on how your firm turns out over the long term could end up being very worth it
How long ago did you start your own firm and what led to you doing so? How has the journey been so far? Any concerns about it not working and having to find an alternative?
Tough to save a lot in NYC! Probably have underperformed the market over time in public equity but it is what it is
How much of that carry is vested?
1M is cash comp excl carry? sounds nice
did you go to business school?
~$2M is vested of carry
another ~$1.5M incremental NW if you marked the co-invest at NAV, but don't believe it
did go to business school, otherwise would have more money!
Is your $25mm DAW across 2 funds or 1 fund? If 2 funds, can you provide the breakdown by fund?
Also, any concerns about your funds hitting the carry hurdle?
The numbers o this thread are insane and mostly outlier outcomes
Yup that’s always how it works
Age: 30
Liquid vs. illiquid breakdown: $10k cash, ~$600k liquid brokerage, $295k 401(k), ~$520k current mark co-invest; Carry: ~$4M DAW but nothing vested currently; ~$70k leverage
Nice! Even excl. co-invest you're in a great spot. How accurate do you think the current marks are?
We're relatively conservative on our current marks and they just updated for 3/31, so it's now $560k vs. $520k
Any concerns about your fund hitting the carry hurdle?
Providing a banking perspective.
Age: Freshly 30
Title: VP (Moving to Director)
Fund Size: N/A (RX)
YOE: 8
Total Comp: 750k
Annual Savings: Entire Bonus, 30%-50% of base (depending on how frugal I'm feeling, un married :( so don't have much to spend on, firm comps most meals and I don't eat out at expensive places)
Current Net Worth: Savings: 15k, 401K: 250K, Brokerage: 3.15mln, housing equity: 200k, All In: 3.6mln
All Liquid except for 401k and house equity, feel pretty good about my situation but looking to make a switch as I've worked a crap ton these past 8 years and want to settle down.
Congrats, this is unbelievable!
Send some of your stock picks lad
Was able to jump net worth significantly these past 1-2 years with Micron ($MU) and Dow Chemical ($DOW). Don't have much time to select specific stocks but was huge into Iron Ore, Steel, Metallurgical Coal space and had solid returns in $BHP and $RIO around COVID.
Portfolio has shifted a significant amount into $BAH for the next 1-2 year time frame. Not investment advice but just what I'm bullish on.
Do you mind sharing your comp progression over the years as well as hours and lifestyle?
Age: 32
Title: 1st year Principal
Fund Size: $250-500M
Industry: Services
Geography: VHCOL, non-NYC
Years of Experience: 8 years in PE, 2 years in IBD, 10 years total
Cash Comp: $250K base + $225K bonus = $475K total
Carry (% and DAW): 2% in prior fund (~$200K), 4% in current fund (~$3M DAW). Have ~$2M of DAW in non-fund-level vehicles, so call it ~$5M of total DAW
Realized Carry: None. Some of it is vested as it's 4-year vesting, but no payouts received
Annual Savings Rate: ~80-100% bonus
Current Net Worth (excl. Carry): ~$1M. $300K of that is equity in a primary residence. $150K of that is in unrealized co-invest. Remainder is in equities mixed between taxable and 401k
Use of Leverage: some leverage on co-investment + mortgage. Nothing aggressive or creative
Net Worth Progression: Was maybe ~$200-300K as 25, moving to ~$800-900K at 30. Bought a home (market has been stagnant, carrying costs have been high) and paid for a wedding which stalled NW growth since then
Expected Net Worth in 5-10 years: Conservatively hoping to be at $2.5-3M net worth in 5 years and $5-7M in 10 years. So much of that is based on carry payouts as I don't anticipate my cash comp savings to really grow or move the needle particularly with kids coming into the picture over the next few years
Age: 30
YOE: 8
Title: Analyst (HF) 2Y IB 2Y PE 4Y HF
Fund Size: $2-5Bn in T1 City
Base: $200
Bonus: $200-5000
Total Cash Comp: Varies Annually lucky to not have gotten the floor comp so far.
Savings Rate: Spend Base, Save Bonus
Carry: Have Bps of Fund Performance but Varies every year.
Progression: 25 had $500K brokerage & a private that returned $350K afterwards.
Leverage: I don’t like debt, but I keep checking & savings at $0 so I guess high operating leverage. I will use margin on portfolio when it makes sense. Once you are over >$1M you get pretty good margin rates from JPM private account.
Current Net Worth: ~$5M in brokerage + $1.5M via 1 vacation property out East (paid cash). Technically have 2 private investments in Anthropic and SpaceX but I don’t really know how much they are worth b/c there’s 2 layers of fees. I put $100K in each prob 4x gross on Anthropic & 6-8x on SpaceX but let’s see what happens with IPO & fees.
Expected Net Worth: Who knows, I don’t believe in planning life around a number or money. Hopefully more than I have today.
Not mid-level but will add to show a realistic outcome
A few lessons:
Lifestyle creep is super real post kids for me. I spend ~4x - 5x what I used to, maybe more. :S
33
$1B fund
$400k cash comp
VP3
T2 City
$1.1m real nw, $500k vested carry, $4m DAW
Suspect I'm meaningfully underpaid.. should I show them this thread during reviews (lol)?
Think you're def unpaid if doing traditional buyout for $1B fund size unless you're doing some more unique strategy. How's WLB? I'm T2/T3 city with similar VP comp but my fund size is half yours
60 hours per week. Lateraled up market a few years back and think that's still being used against me comp wise. My friend who is a tech founder just raised at a unicorn valuation. At some point i probably need to take my future into my own hands. Think that's probably a year away (stash away ~$2m and then go start a business).
Hoping to get up to $5M in the next 5 years and then probably get off the hamster wheel, I am single but once I am married with kids would like to be more present if I can afford to
How does your role on the operating team work? Is your bonus tied to specific goals or outcomes for the portcos you work on? I've heard mixed results on operating teams so would be great to get your view
Indirectly I'd say. Bonus is effectively guaranteed as long as I hit my performance expectations. My performance rating is not directly tied to portco performance / outcomes, though if shit hits the fan and it's my fault (there's not really any hiding), my ass will definitely be on the line (peers have been canned for this)
I work for a value investing fund and we have a very large ops team for our fund size. There's certainly a 1A-1B dynamic with the deal team, but overall it's a good balance of high pay and sustainable work (50-60 hours per week, travel 2-3 weeks per month)
32, VP2 at SFO
Wife and I just crossed $1M for the first time earlier this year which I'm pretty pleased about (~1/2 in retirement accts, most of the rest is liquid, no carry). Brief stint in an operating role where the equity won't hit + got a bit hosed selling my old Bay Area condo + paying for college (and wife's med school loans) all took a big chunk out of that. Combined savings should get quite a bit of a boost once the wife wraps up residency.
Hoping to make a jump to another SFO and get a title bump + higher comp to accelerate things, def underpaid a bit at my current shop (annual 400k cash + pretty meaningless long-term incentive payout) for the AUM we manage and also under titled, not ideal.
• Fund size: ~$2bn+
• Industry: Tech
• Geography: VHCOL
• Years of experience: 12
• Base: $475k
• Bonus: $575k
• Total comp: $1.05M
• Carry (% and DAW): 3.75% latest fund ($15M+)
• Realized carry (include annualized): zero
• Annual savings rate: ~80% (full bonus and some base)
• Current net worth (including and excluding unrealized carry): $4.5M excluding unrealized carry, $10M including unrealized carry)
• Liquid vs. illiquid breakdown: $3.7M liquid, $800k illiquid (including co-invest)
• % of NW from comp vs. investments vs. carry: ~70% comp, ~30% investments
• Use of leverage: None
title?
this is incredible for a ~35 yo
Is this fund size like total AUM? Or latest fund raised?
Latest fund raised
Incredibly toxic thread.. cash comp/carry/NW/etc won't make you happy once you've cleared a number, and most of you have already done so or are easily on the path to.
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