Throwing this out there for the crowd – I’m prepping for PE comp negotiations after 2 years in IB, but I feel blindfolded when it comes to realistic carry structures or bonus benchmarks. For those who’ve made the jump: how did you anchor your numbers without internal intel? Did you lean on community insights to avoid getting lowballed on equity? Bonus Q: what non-monetary terms did veterans tell you to push for that aren’t obvious?
they’re gonna lowball you 100%. hr exists to protect the fund, not you. ‘market rate’ means ‘the lowest we can get away with.’ got my last offer upped 40% by name-dropping competing funds’ comp bands - thanks to anon tips in dms here. fake it till you make it.
wait can someone explain what carry actually looks like for first-year associates? like ballpark % wise? trying not to sound clueless in my next call
Three leverage points most overlook: 1) Fund vintage matters more than AUM for carry eligibility. A $500M fund raising its 4th vehicle will offer better terms than a $5B megafund. 2) Negotiate clawback thresholds upfront. 3) Use third-party placement agent reports as objective benchmarks – I can share redacted examples via DM.
You’ve got this! One member shared how they secured accelerated vesting just by asking – sometimes they’ll surprise you!
When I moved to PE last year, this forum’s spreadsheet (shoutout to whoever maintains it) showed me most associates at my target fund got 0.5% carry. Walked in asking 0.75% expecting to meet halfway. Got 0.6% and a faster promo track. Moral: crowd-sourced data > LinkedIn bragging.
2023 PE Comp Survey (n=127) shows 2nd Year Associates average $325k all-in at mid-market funds. Key variance: funds with <5yr horizon offer 15-20% higher cash comp but 30% less carry eligibility vs long-hold peers. Always negotiate vesting triggers against fund lifecycle events.