Private Equity Bonuses 2019
Interested in recent thoughts from members who've been in their PE seat for 1+ years, what were your bonuses (and all-inclusive comp) this past year and were you happy with it?
I came from PE to a distressed HF and was surprised with my bonus as I had no idea what to expect given industry performance so thought I would poll some folks who probably have also thought about this at some point in their life while slugging away as an associate.
What I intend for this thread is simple discussion maybe in below format so we can all better understand our seats. For me at least, as I’m approaching my 30s I find this important and telling to better evaluate my future career decisions especially given that I’ve moved cities a few times.
Title/Level:
YOE:
2019 Base:
2019 Bonus:
Thoughts on 2019 Comp: [miss/beat/in-line]
Comp Expectation 2020:
The more data points, the better!
Hi Research Associate in HF - Event, any of these discussions helpful:
More suggestions...
Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.
What does that mean “surprised”? In a good way or bad way? What was your comp at a distressed HF, I’m curious because I’ve had interest in RX
I’m sure more people would post comp numbers if you offered yous
Happy to post, 150 base + 500 bonus. This is anonymous board so not sure why people would be hesitant?
I’ve found HFs to be a black box in terms of comp so that is exactly why I created this thread, to get other figures from ppl who decided to stay in PE or are considering moving, their thoughts on comp progression, etc.
Lot of cheddar. Congrats!
Does that include your severance package? Cause it seems to me anyone who goes on anonymous forums to dick measure would be paid to go away.
I expect year 1 banking analysts to shit post without contributing. Congrats and move on.
This was posted in the PE forum and intended for for PE (and ppl moving/moved to HF from PE) to contribute.
He just mad
.
To the one posting how long have you been in your current role? Anyone else that posts can you give how long you've been at your role as well?
~7 yoe
For reference, I wasn’t sure but sometimes would feel underpaid when I saw the MF PE numbers ppl throw out as my PE all in comp was
I’m going to have to ask all posters in the thread to calm the fuck down because it’s not that serious.
Analyst (VC/growth equity space) 70K base 1K bonus (thats not a typo) Way below market, and I am a "top-bucket" analyst btw
Congrats on the 71k bonus
MM or LMM Growth Equity?
I am not even sure if my firm would qualify as LMM, its a VC debt shop, and we play in ~$3-5M check sizes
It’s shit in comparison to high finance but at least you’re working in an excisions space compared to a lot of others.
What is your experience background?
Non-target undergrad > FT Analyst at my current fund/company Studies Accounting and had few internships in various roles, including one at a Big4
Curious to hear your background (IBD group, PE fund size and what made you switch to HF?) I am considering moving myself so would appreciate it!
Given you’re already in PE, I don’t think my background provides anything of particular substance (M&A/non-MF PE) but what definitely helped me from my old seat was getting more familiar with “how would a credit guy think about my portfolio company” vs how my old firm taught me how to think about investing. Critical for me was that being able to come up with a thesis on publicly tradeable debt wasn’t immediately obvious to me a few years ago so I had to consult friends in the industry to get an idea of what “successful trades” looked like which helped me form my pitches when I interviewed (i.e. a catalyst for bonds in 60s or 80s are quite different, group game theory in multi tiered capital structures, proposing new exchanges/new money capital/cram down of jrs in a distressed issuer etc.). Hope that helps!
Re: why I switched, to be honest a few friends are in the industry from college (and conversely I don’t really have too many true friends who in PE) and we always would chat about our jobs which gave me a natural interest in the area since graduating. I actually enjoyed PE quite a bit but don’t think I would have had the opportunity to stay/move up. For now, i really enjoy the constant “being on/100% engaged” mode of HFs given the pricing discovery of the job. I can’t tell what I did leave behind if I tried to switch to another PE firm though.
Don't mean to hijack your thread but curious about some of the differences in working in PE vs HF. From what I've heard distressed tends to be more long term and illiquid since you're working with bankruptcies so do you still find that it comes with being 100% on throughout the work day as lot of more market based HF gigs can be (l/s equity)? Also did that come with a drop in the amount of hours you worked or do you find yourself working the same amount of volume as in PE (assuming about 65-80 hours a week)?
Analyst 1
Base: 85
Bonus: 50%
I expect something similar for next year, and I don't know about the long-term prospects of staying where I am due to low deal flow and gaining as much experience as I expected.
Would you mind sharing your bucket / what the size of the last fund raised was?
I work at an SFO, so none of that applies.
Analyst 1 - MM (Niche PE) ~$2Bn Fund
Base: 120 Bonus: 40 Signing: 10 Relo: 15
A bit underwhelming on the Bonus side, but generally fine. Dont expect huge movements this year maybe +10 on the bonus.
That is a great base. Did you get that straight out of undergrad?
Yes actually started during my undergrad had to finish school while working here, technically its my second year at the company, but First year as Analyst however last year comp was same ballpark, a bit less.
Base is impressive for an analyst out of school. Otherwise, yeah, you got boned on the bonus.
Yeah but 120 base is unbelievable for y1 out of school. If it was 85 base 75 bonus everyone would think its a great salary. Plus its 185 all in.
2 billion last fund or total AUM?
Total AUM is prob. ~10 Bn or so.
If I DM you could I get the name of the firm, no worries if it’s too prying. Appreciate your input above a lot, helps me out a lot.
Hi there, apologies but that won't be possible. If you are looking for other information I may help, but cant give you the name here.
My PE offer letter said 150k base + 160k bonus.. (not sure if I will actually receive the bonus, but it was in writing which I appreciated) last fund raise was $5bn... this is for a specific industry group at at MF. Curious about HF opportunities as I'll likely be weighing business school, staying on as a senior associate / VP or trying to leave for a HF and it seems like there is zero info on the space. Headhunters rarely offer me HF roles and when they do I never know how to decide to take them seriously or not. Anyone have experience / thoughts on the recruiting process coming from PE? I know I'll a little ahead of myself, but for what it's worth I'm actually a second year analyst even though it says 1st. lol
Is this in ny?
310k seems to be about expected for MF PE these days. Congrats on the offer.
What I’m really curious about is what that comp looks like 3-5 years into PE since I didn’t make it that far.
My hunch is that on average the average PE associate/VP makes more than the average HF analyst but the top 10-20% of HF analysts at top firms make 25%+ more at an equivalent age/rank level. Haven’t found fully empirical evidence (mostly lacking the PE data points vs I have most of the HF data points)
This seems right to me. I've talked with associates in the group I'm joining and they've said basically don't ask about carry until you're a VP. So assuming two years as an associate plus one year as a senior associates I'd be making 310 ratcheting up to maybe 400+? And then as a VP I'd assume similar base to banking... maybe bump up to 250k or more? But then you start to receive carry which takes a 3 years to vest? So by third year VP maybe you're making $1mm in carry as each vested year from 3 years prior rolls off? Not really sure exactly how this works either... so essentially by 30-35 at the VP/Director/Principal level you're seeing ~$1+mm?
Yeah this is NY
Also, separately.. I was offered early promote to associate in my group.. would get 50k this summer, plus 100k top bucket bonus, plus another 50k stub bonus in December, so by leaving I’m giving up about 200k cash over the next 6 months... carried interest feels very far off and I’m wondering if I’d make more just staying in banking for a few more years.. anyone have thoughts on this? Would it be silly to consider staying?
Feel like a lot of people have echoed staying sentiments for reasons above. Going from top bucket analyst at a good bank -> Mm / lower MM doesn’t really make sense for those reasons unless you’re given carry already. You don’t want to just make that trade off, time value of money and all. Try to negotiate, make your current position be known, and if no one steps up to the plate you have a decent career in banking for the most part.
More so a question but surely if you want to leave at some point you will have to give up some comp, right?
If you're thinking of going buyside I would do it now. I know it seems like a lot to give up, but over the course of your career it's pretty meaningless. It will be substantially harder to transition to buyside after the associate promote and you may end up in a situation where you can't find a way in. Now, if you aren't sold on buyside and are indifferent to the work, I think the answer is clear and you should stay in banking. That's really the trade off here, money shouldn't have much bearing on your decision process.
Was in almost identical situation - if you want to be an investor take the PE job - got ridiculously lucky with an off-cycle position a MF was running for an industry-specific group. The money will follow just potentially not in the (very) short term as it relates to your banking comp. These opportunities are far and few between, consider what actually makes you excited and will stimulate you.
If you want to continue in banking go for it, but don't be too comp driven as it will affect your overall mental well-being going forward
$175K B. $910k B. SMD Partner Track
Wow
This is gorgeous - any high level info on firm type? Definitely not a MF
Congrats! Age / how did it fair vs. your expectations?
out of UG got into a MM firm with co-invest/ carry at associate level (low base ~100-150) with 100~150 bonus. Sometimes I’m not sure whether I should’ve gone IBPE instead for the extra 100k but not everyone goes into MF anyway. Firm has spots in low COL city as well as tier 1 so idk whether I made the right choice sometimes but I might just be having FOMO.
dude you’re literally saying you’re making 200-300k. what more can you want
Yeah, I was in some rough situations when I was younger (homeless, etc.) and turned a strong "when I get xxx" mentality which is hard for me to shake. I have some impression of not having worked hard enough because the people I am around will make same+ more. So there's insecurity there with FOMO and such and I'm sure a few people in Finance have it. I have your mentality also (I'm set, all I gotta do is do well at my job and I'll be fine in life) but I still think about how I can reorient myself to new situations if I can make significant improvements (lateral or MBA). I'm still more than a year away from breaking 200k though.
I find this to be a hilarious dick measuring contest
Best way to get a beat on PE comp by level (inc carry) is to ask one of the recruiters for their comp survey.
Anyway I make 500k salary with 1.5m bonus. Incoming i2021 winter intern analyst
You're an incoming analyst making a "guaranteed" 1.5M bonus?
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