Welcome to our 2024 North American Private Equity Investment Professional Compensation Survey. This report provides a comprehensive picture of the compensation that North American private equity executives are currently receiving.

For this report, Heidrick & Struggles compiled compensation data from a survey of 820 investment professionals in North America. 

We hope you enjoy reading the survey, which remains the only one of its kind. As always, suggestions are welcome, so please feel free to contact us—or your Heidrick & Struggles representative—with questions and comments.

Executive summary

There has been a pickup in private equity activity in the second half of 2024, which will likely continue in 2025. There are more investment professionals looking for opportunities than in previous years, but firms still need to actively recruit the best candidates.

• Firms are adding business development professionals, from relatively junior roles to managing director or partner-level roles.
• There is increased focus on investment professionals who can source transactions, even at a junior level.

Given the challenges in finding proprietary deals and the increase in deal multiples, firms have become more focused on hiring operating executives who can help with diligence, post-acquisition plans, and portfolio management.¹

Private equity professionals are looking for opportunities where there will be room for growth, along with a good firm culture.

• They are paying special attention to track record, DPI, how deployed a firm’s most current fund is, and where the firm’s fundraising stands.
• We have seen candidates take a step back in comp in order to invest in longer term upside. We have also seen candidates who will trade upside for a more stable home that is less dependent on the ebbs and flows of fundraising.

Compensation trends

We had expected compensation to flatline in 2024, but respondents report modest gains.

• The gains in base, bonus, and carry by assets under management (AUM) of the most recent fund were most noticeable at smaller funds.
• Viewed by AUM of all funds, the gains were most noticeable at funds with AUM of $6.00 billion to $9.99 billion.
• Partner and managing director compensation increased in 2023 when looking at AUM of the most recent fund, but decreased when viewed by AUM across all funds.
• Most respondents reported an increase in their bonus, reversing a recent trend. Large bonuses remain rare and are most frequently found at the managing partner level.
• There was an increase in clawbacks and holdbacks at the managing partner level.

For full compensation data, download the full report. 

About the authors

Jonathan Goldstein (jgoldstein@heidrick.com) is the regional managing partner of Heidrick & Struggles’ Private Equity Practice for the Americas; he is based in the New York office.

John Rubinetti (jrubinetti@heidrick.com) is a partner in the New York office and a member of the Private Equity Practice.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Mohd Arsalan for his contributions to this report.

Reference

¹ Jonathan Goldstein and John Rubinetti, 2024 North American Private Equity Operating Professional Compensation Survey, Heidrick & Struggles, June 26, 2024.