Home ListingNovember 10, 2016

Static Private Capital Salaries Remain High

The average executive earned a base salary of $455,285, while the best paid took home upwards of $1 million after bonuses.

Reported by Featured Author

The majority of private capital managers did not see their base salaries grow this year, according to Preqin.

Just 38% reported a firm-wide increase in base pay, while compensation at 57% of firms stayed the same.

“The private capital industry has had a very successful year by most accounts, but the majority of firms have not made general salary increases,” said Christopher Elvin, head of private equity products at Preqin.

Currently, the average executive at a private capital firm earns a base salary of $455,285, with total annual cash compensation of $732,236.

Chiefs at leveraged buyout firm earned the most, with $574,221 in base pay and $809,536 in total.

Venture capital executives, meanwhile, earned base salaries of $548,898 and total compensation of $667,002 on average. Leaders at growth capital firms earned $347,799 in base pay, or $495,682 total, while private equity real estate executives were paid $413,995 in base salary and $808,045 in total compensation.

Base salaries were largely correlated with firm assets under management, with those overseeing more than $1 billion earning $609,808 in base pay. However, the largest total compensation went to executives managing between $400 million and $1 billion, who earned $1,022,863 annually.

Of those who reported firm-wide base salary increases, 7% increased pay by more than 20%. Another 7% said they raised base compensation between 11% and 20%.

“Those firms that has made salary increases tended to make large raises, and overall the private capital industry remains an exceptionally well-compensated profession,” Elvin said.