PE Associate Comp
Friends, it’s the season for PE comp.
Please share your comp with details willing to share across the buckets. I’ll go first.
Fund Type (LMM, MM, MF): MF Location: NYC Base (Current, New): $175k / 175k Bonus: $200k Total Comp: $375k
MM
NYC
2nd Year Associate
$165k Base / $165k Bonus ($330k total)
Very nice. Mind sharing your comp from last year for comparison? Also, how much did you bump in base as associate 3?
Prior year was $150k/$150k
SR ASO comp is $200k/$200k + carry
What is the AUM?
yea pls tell us fund AUM/current fund size
following
Is MF first-year base above 150 anywhere?
200 at Apax...think 150 is minimum for MF now. A lot of MMs are >150 as well
how come they pay a higher base (well 200 vs 170 of others) when they charge less than 2/20?
The street average for MFPE ASO1 is like 330K i believe. So base most likely to be at least 150K
Currently recruiting and have heard some 100/100k (200k all-in) quotes from some MM/LMM firms for 2026. Is this a gross underpay or what a lot of associate programs track?
Gross underpay but some LMM really are shitholes like that
Its slight underpay relative to MM and MF, but its a trade off: most people will go to LMM funds for better economics in a smaller fund (relative to age and experience) and better work life balance typically.
What are the fund sizes/sum of these firms? Not unheard of for smaller funds.
I’m at a LMM ($2-3B fund) in a HCOL city and sitting at $250k total comp as a second yr associate. We do get coinvest but felt like comp was lower compared to peers
how's the hours, team, culture, etc.
At a lmm fund $500mm in a T2 city and below is our comp across years:
as1: 100/100
as2: 110/110
as3: 120/120
MM
LA
$150K base
$150K bonus
Total Comp: $300K (ASO 1)
fund size?
~ $4BN AUM currently
100% shamrock capital
Not shamrock, but an industry specialized firm nonetheless
Base: 115K
Bonus: 115K
LMM
Mid-Tier City
Good WLB
Chicago?
Somewhere more southern, but not west coast
As1?
yes
Mind if I PM you about your role?
KKR/BX/APO Associate 1
150k base
150k bonus
300k all in
Congrats on BX. Do you guys still have to wear ties everyday?
No, intern
LMM
$110k base / $110k bonus
WLB is solid
Work directly with partners and management on all types of deals / work flows
Tier 1 city
how many hours normally vs live deal
Seems a little low, but overall a good offer if you can co-invest and have good hours
I’m reading these comments and I’m shocked. Is IB Asso Pay higher than PE Asso pay now?
Not my understanding BB Asso Base is 175k…..
This has been the case for years now
So what is the rationale behind going into PE if a lot of us monkeys are only in it for the money? IB seems to be more lucrative, or am I wrong?
Just looking for opinions !
A big thing to consider is if a fund allows associates to co-invest on new investment opportunities. While I don’t know a ton of guys with carry in associate years, I don’t know of any investment banker who’s able to buy into a good deal unless they are invested with a GP somewhere else (also a conflict of interest in certain cases so take that as you will).
LMM
Dallas
$165 base / $165 bonus
Senior Associate
Do you mind sharing your Assoc. 1 numbers?
130/130 (260 all in)
LMM
$150 base
$160k bonus
Assoc 2.
Texas
Houston native as well currently in SF. Wanting to get back to H - mind if I DM you? I'm doing consumer and want to stick to that but it's so difficult to find in Houston since largely energy
Do you mind sharing what your Assoc 1. numbers were?
wow 300k in texas, no state income tax and lcol, that's the dream. maybe i should work to get over my strong dislike of the 100+ degree whether and boring suburb life.
LMM
Chicago
$120K Base / $120K bonus
Tougher WLB than IB
Associate 1?
What kinda hours are we talking
LMM/MM in Chicago, my assoc 1 comp is slightly higher.
A couple as1 data points:
Chicago mm: 140 base / 100 bonus
chicago lmm: 125 base / 100 bonus
LA mm: 150 base / 120 bonus
detroit lmm: 150 base / 75 bonus
Senior associate T2 lmm: 140/140
Chicago LMM fund ~$200mm: 125 base + 60 bonus
Thompson Street Capital: 175 base, 25 bonus + small deal bonuses
How small is a "small" deal bonus... kinda have a vested interest in knowing the answer to this lol
I don’t remember exactly but call it ~5k per deal? I don’t think more than 10 tho.
NYC secondaries: 150 base 120 bonus
What size fund? What’s gp/lp led split?
~$5bn fund size. Healthy mix of both
LMM, AS1, SF
$175k base, $50-60k target. $225-235 all in
can you share approx. fund size?
$500m
is this street for sf?
I don’t think so, but I love the work and not splitting hairs. My understanding is my base is higher than most places, but lower bonus on the backend
All the bx Princeton associates are hot af
I think I know who you are lol
1B AUM, T1 city, 1st yr asso, $280k (roughly equal split between base/bonus), 60hours/week (when no live deal)
Fund size?
ngl these comps are mid but potentially impressive for how bad PE is performing as an asset class rn. Not like any of these firms are handing out 15k-30k bonuses like the banks who don't think twice about it in bad years
PE isn't cyclical like the sell-side + consulting because of the "permanent capital". As long as they have capital locked up, they collect managements to pay out bonuses. Even PE funds that blow up are still collecting management fees years after their last fund because the capital needs to be managed and returned. Lehman was still paying people up until 2022.
Chicago PE aso 2: 115 base / 115 bonus
LMM SR ASSC 1 $150k base $85k bonus ~$50-100k in yearly deal execution bonuses +carry Most weeks are 30-40 hours
Hours are insane. Is this a T1, T2, orT3 market?
Chicago PE (Healthcare), ~$3Bn latest fund size
All in $390k for As2, ~80hrs per week
390?? What’s the split
Things are always busy at Linden!
Am I getting lowballed as AS1? MM ($1-2B) fund. Florida, so no income tax. $125k base / $125k bonus = $250k TC. Mid tier WLB.
Hard to concretely benchmark given I am not in a VHCOL area and in no state income tax state. Online COL calculators seem to be saying $250k in my Florida city is equivalent to ~$310k in NYC, but I'm not sure if that's accurate.
Thoughts?
I would consider that a market offer for that size of fund.
How is this even comparable when you have no state tax - that's well above market. All those in no/low state tax are winning by a mile
3rd Yr Aso (1st Yr Sr Aso)
Base: 200k
Bonus: 275k
Total Comp: 475k
Based in NY office
Thanks, at a MF or UMM? Helpful to get a comp for 3rd year associate since not common at a lot of funds and 3rd years start to function as a senior associate or junior VP.
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