NYC MF Credit Associate Comp (recent data points, lateral move)

Can anyone shed some light on what type of compensation I should expect at a NYC MF credit group (think Apollo / GSO) as an lateral associate hire? I looked up a few of the data points on the WSO company database but am unsure if they are stale given the wide variance. Currently working in UMM PE at fund that has traditionally always been two and out and am currently a first year associate finishing my first year. I've had a really compelling opportunity come my way and have progressed through the first few stages of the "remote" portions of the interview process (phone/video interviews, case study). Though comp has not been brought up yet as I applied directly through the firm and not through a headhunter. I'm curious as to what should I generally be expecting? FWIW my target first year all-in cash comp is $275k at my UMM fund.

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OP here, I was in banking for two years before leaving. Second year target at my UMM PE fund is $300k all cash (I will supposedly get confirmation of this when going through my first year review but I'm just citing what has been quoted as the expected figure in past years). As I mentioned, my firm is basically 2 and out. Some associates have lingered for another ~3-9 months depending on their specific situations but my assumption is that they are getting paid the same as second years (run rate).

I'm not sure what the exact senior associate target comp is... all of our senior associates are either immediate post-MBA hires or senior associate lateral hires who are on the fast track to get promoted to VP within 6-18 months. I understand the comp to be a bit more variable and/or situation dependent. Additionally, I believe they begin to pick up a small portion of deferred comp once at that stage.

Doing my part here to contribute what I have gathered over the past few days -- FYI these are all second hand data points (again, for Credit, NOT PE):

  • GSO (3rd year associate, NYC): ~$350k (2016)
  • Ares (1st year associate, Non-NYC): ~$250k (unknown year)
  • Apollo (1st year associate, NYC): ~$275k (2018)
  • Apollo (1st year associate, NYC): ~$300k (2019)
 

I'll say when I was recruiting two years ago (off-cycle) I worked with Robin Judson for a position at Owl Rock and she mentioned the base was $110. It seems low given competitor standards but this is what I was told. I'll caveat this was Owl Rock's Real Asset team which i know they recruited for a long time even after I got rejected from the job (IMO the senior guy interviewing me was the worst kind of finance hardo dick)

 

Might also be helpful to include strategy in the comp discussion? Some of these groups have senior lending funds, Mezz/Special Situations teams and liquid credit/CLO funds. I would imagine comp varies across those teams and target return threshold. In addition to the comp details above, numbers for the Mezzanine / Special Situations / Distressed groups would be appreciated.

 

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