For any asset owner considering a switch to alternative fund management, salary benchmarking site www.emolument.com has issued a guide to how you might expect to be paid, depending on the sector you choose.
(Alternative managers’ base salaries. Source emolument.com)There is a distinct difference between how UK staff at hedge
funds and private equity companies are paid, the website’s data shows. The
website used data from 600 staff who volunteered information.
Based on the research, private equity staffers can expect the best steadily increasing incomes as they progress up the slippery pole of seniority, with matching gradually improving bonuses.
Hedge fund workers, on the other hand, do not earn as much as their private equity peers on a base salary level after reaching the rank of vice-president, although their salaries do rise in line with rank.
However, once bonuses are taken into account, the story changes.
Hedge fund bonuses outstrip those received by private equity peers at three out of the five levels of seniority ranked by www.emolument.com. At managing director level, hedge fund staffers walk away with a bonus of £340,000, whereas private equity top dogs take £250,000 a year.
This produces an overall package of £505,000 for hedge fund
supremos compared with £460,000 for private equity heads.
(Alternatives managers’ bonuses. Source: emolument.com)
Thomas Drewry, CEO at emolument.com, said that as similar skill sets were required in both environments, potential newcomers to alternatives were confronted with a career choice.
“At least they now have a better idea of what it entails in terms of compensation throughout their career: more stable revenue profiles from private equity firms but higher absolute returns from hedge funds,” said Drewry.
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