Unveiling the 2025 Private Equity & VC Compensation Report: Key Trends, Insights, and Industry Benchmarks

This year’s 2025 Private Equity & Venture Capital Compensation Report marks nearly two decades of providing insights into the dynamic compensation trends shaping the industry. Despite a challenging economic backdrop and global market uncertainties, compensation across private equity and venture capital roles has remained resilient, reflecting the sector’s adaptability and strong competition for top-tier talent.

Total compensation levels continue to climb, with base salaries driving much of the growth. Bonus payouts, however, showed more mixed trends, influenced by fund performance, firm size, and individual contributions. For the first time, 90% of respondents reported earning more than $150,000 annually, setting a new record for industry-wide pay distribution.

While higher pay remains a hallmark of the sector, 62% of professionals reported an increase in total cash compensation this year. Yet, bonus growth varied significantly across firm sizes, with the largest payouts concentrated in firms managing over $1 billion in assets. Bonuses remain predominantly tied to performance, and most firms continue the trend of annual payouts between December and March.

The preference for lean, agile team structures remains a defining characteristic of the industry, with 85% of respondents working in teams of fewer than 25 people. However, this focus on efficiency underscores a persistent weakness: training and professional development programs. Half of respondents rated their firm’s training resources as inadequate, a trend unchanged from prior years.

Key compensation differences persist between private equity and venture capital firms, with hybrid firms offering some of the most competitive packages for senior roles. Venture capital professionals, while typically earning less than their private equity counterparts, saw the largest year-over-year increases in bonus pay.

Hiring patterns reflect cautious optimism, as firms selectively recruit for high-demand positions, particularly in investment roles. At the same time, reductions in headcount across some areas suggest strategic realignments as firms adapt to shifting market conditions.

Other notable findings from this year include:

• Pay Satisfaction: While many senior leaders remain satisfied with their earnings, mid-level professionals, particularly Investment Managers and Associates, expressed growing dissatisfaction.
• Bonus Guarantees: Just 29% of respondents reported receiving any form of guaranteed bonus, consistent with prior years.
• Carry Allocations: Executive-level carry participation saw incremental growth, with a 4% rise in allocations exceeding 10% of the pool.
• Fund Performance Trends: Funds achieving returns of 10-24% gained ground, but the percentage of top-performing funds continued to shrink, reflecting broader market volatility.
• Work-Life Balance: Satisfaction with work-life balance remained steady, with 40% reporting above-average or excellent experiences in this area.

The 2025 report offers a comprehensive overview of compensation practices in private equity and venture capital, providing a reliable benchmark for industry professionals. Whether you are negotiating your next role, refining your firm’s pay policies, or planning career moves, this report offers invaluable data and insights.

2023 Private Equity Compensation Report Shows Increased Compensation Despite Slowing Fund Performance

ANN ARBOR, MI, December 7, 2022 – The 2023 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report marks the ninth straight year of compensation gains in the private equity and venture capital industry.

Despite a downturn in the stock market, corporate layoffs, and discussions of recession, participants across the board reported higher total earnings over the previous year. Overall, 65 percent of respondents expect to see greater cash earnings this year.

Those earning from $151,000 to $1 million increased another 3 percent and now account for 87 percent of respondents. This is the highest percentage of private equity and venture capital professionals reporting earnings of more than $150,000 in annual compensation in the history of this report.

“As we saw last year, most of these professionals are unhappy with their private equity compensation packages,” said David Kochanek, Publisher of PrivateEquityCompensation.com. “Market conditions and employee expectations were the two biggest reasons cited for their dissatisfaction.” Carried interest and compensation formulas were the remaining reasons for dissatisfaction.

Estimated fund performance in 2022 is down compared to last year. Funds up 25 percent or more fell by 4 percent. Funds up 10 to 24 percent dropped from 45 percent last year to 39 percent. And the percentage of respondents who said their fund’s performance was down increased from 4 to 8 percent. Given the state of the economy, we expect this trend to continue in 2023.

Bonus pay is usually based on several factors, including firm performance, fund performance, and individual performance. As reported in previous reports, this year, when funds didn’t perform well, professionals expected their firm to pay out lucrative bonuses to team members.

The most popular month for bonus payouts is December, accounting for 26 percent of responses. December is followed by the first three months of the year, in which 49 percent of respondents report receiving their bonus payouts.

In-house training continues to receive unfavorable reviews, with nearly half of respondents reporting non-existent or weak internal training programs. Equivalent to last year, only 18 percent rate their in-house training as good to excellent despite the benefits firms could gain in recruitment and retention by strengthening this area.

In addition to compensation data, the 2023 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report provides additional insights such as positions in demand, percentage of firms hiring, where firms are cutting back, and where career opportunities are increasing.

About The Report

The 2023 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report is based on data collected directly from hundreds of private equity and venture capital partners, principals, and employees.

The report, in its sixteenth year of publication, is widely regarded to be among the most comprehensive benchmarks for private equity and venture capital compensation. It provides independent and impartial data covering a broad range of salary, bonus, carried interest, and other compensation-related information, sourced directly from professionals working within the industry.

2022 Private Equity Compensation Report Shows Continued Upward Trends in Compensation

ANN ARBOR, MI – The 2022 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report shows that private equity and venture capital compensation is up again this year, marking the eighth straight year of compensation gains.

The percentage of respondents earning $150,000 and below has continued to decline and those earning from $151,000 to $1 million increased to 80 percent of respondents. This is the highest percentage of private equity and venture capital professionals reporting earnings more than $150,000 in annual compensation in the history of this report.

“Overall, compensation is up, yet 57 percent of those surveyed are dissatisfied with their pay,” said David Kochanek, Publisher of PrivateEquityCompensation.com. “We’ve seen this before. When the market is strong, pay satisfaction is weak. This is because investment professionals are not currently concerned about losing their job and they are reading about the top performers and huge pay packages.” Market conditions and employee expectations are the reasons cited by 62 percent of those dissatisfied.

Estimated fund performance in 2021 was up compared to 2020, and funds up 10 to 24 percent over last year represented the majority at 45 percent.
The research shows that bonus pay is typically calculated based on firm performance, fund performance, individual performance and a combination of factors. The largest bonus payouts are achieved in the largest firms based on individual performance. In fact, employees at the largest firms can expect to earn more than triple the bonus pay of those at smaller firms.

In addition to compensation data, the 2022 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report provides additional insights such as positions in demand, percentage of firms hiring, where firms are cutting back and where career opportunities are increasing.

About The Report

The 2022 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report is based on data collected directly from hundreds of private equity and venture capital partners, principals and employees.

The report, in its fifteenth year of publication, is widely regarded to be among the most comprehensive benchmarks for private equity and venture capital compensation. It provides independent and impartial data covering a broad range of salary, bonus, carried interest and other compensation-related information, sourced directly from professionals working within the industry.

Continued Upward Trend in Compensation Despite COVID-19 Pandemic

ANN ARBOR, MI, April 27, 2020 — The 2021 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report shows that private equity and venture capital compensation is up again this year, marking the seventh straight year of compensation gains. The year was unprecedented with the COVID-19 pandemic, and many respondents noted concerns about fundraising and job security in this environment.

The percentage of respondents earning less than $150,000 was down again and those earning from $150,000 to $1 million increased to 68 percent of respondents. This represents the highest percentage of private equity and venture capital professionals reporting earnings more than $150,000 in annual compensation in the history of this report.

“Overall, compensation is up, but more than half of those surveyed are dissatisfied with their pay,” said David Kochanek, Publisher of PrivateEquityCompensation.com. Market conditions and employee expectations are the reasons cited by 60 percent of those dissatisfied.

Bonus pay in the highest pay band has been declining as a percentage share of total compensation since 2014. In fact, bonus pay went down for most respondents compared to last year. However, employees at the largest firms can expect to earn more than double the bonus pay of those at smaller firms.

The research shows that private equity bonus pay is typically calculated based on a combination of several factors: firm performance, fund performance, and individual performance. The highest percentage of firms use a combination of factors but the largest bonus payouts are achieved in the largest firms based on firm performance.

For private equity job seekers, the 2021 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report provides additional detail such as positions in demand, percentage of firms hiring, where firms are cutting back and where career opportunities are increasing.

About The Report

The 2021 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report is based on data collected directly from hundreds of private equity and venture capital partners, principals and employees.

The report, in its fourteenth year of publication, is widely regarded to be among the most comprehensive benchmarks for private equity and venture capital compensation. It provides independent and impartial data covering a broad range of salary, bonus, carried interest and other compensation-related information, sourced directly from professionals working within the industry.