Large earning ranges were primarily driven by the size of bonuses, according to the 2008 Private Equity Jobs Digest Compensation Survey conducted in Fall, 2008, by JobSearchDigest.com. Private equity bonus percentages vary significantly and, as expected, the higher in the firm’s food chain, the bigger the bonus – but not always.
Although the average bonus received was 29 percent of total compensation, 15 percent of respondents received no bonus at all. Analyst roles show the least variability in bonus size. Some of the greatest bonus opportunities for early career professionals are at the Associate level. Depending on the fund and performance, the Associate role is capable of Partner-level income, with total compensation approaching one million dollars. When interviewing for a new position, ask what the average Associate level bonus was last year. That’s a good indicator of what is possible in terms of income.
The average total compensation, industry-wide, was US$255,000 – up 14 percent from last year’s figure of $224,000. We found that the large earning ranges were primarily driven by the size of bonuses. 30 percent of respondents reported salaries above $300,000. Last year, that figure was only 20 percent.
You can read the Executive Summary of the survey at JobSearchDigest.com.
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