Dec 14, 2021

2021 Private Credit Year End Comp

Title speaks for itself here, but I am hearing some bonkers comp figures from friends in private credit. Some firms seeing 2022 comp up 30-40% with up to a 25% salary increase at the Associate, Sr Associate, and VP level. Lot of fees generated this year for comp.


Let the anecdotes begin

 

Thinking bases will be raised to 175 for associates, bonuses should be extra thick this year. Will not have comp numbers til new year but have heard will be phenomenal

 

Would a 15% - 20% increase in total comp be considered bad given the busy year? 

 

What I mentioned is the highest level I had heard. Based on a massive database that Litquidity put together, private credit comp is up an average 17% on average and 15% median at the Sr. Assoc./ VP level. So no, I wouldn't consider that "bad" at all. That's on market. 

Life is more than dollars
 

any chance you could drop ur username so I could PM you? Also a senior with similar job

 

I'm at a pension fund. Base is 140K and minimum/target bonus is 40% for a senior associate for what its worth

hours are also about 50 a week

 

Is there carry involved as you move up the ranks? How do you find your earning potential compared to private equity peers?

 

Is there carry involved as you move up the ranks? How do you find your earning potential compared to private equity peers?

 
Most Helpful

I can't speak to those details, as I've never worked for a BDC. However, I can say that you're comparing apples-to-apples. BDCs can be public or private, but they are mostly affiliated with private credit funds. For example, Oaktree Capital has several different BDC funds. I shared a link below from Monroe Capital's website (another example of illustrating the differences in fund types to prospective investors), but they are effectively the same work.

Business Development Company (BDC) Funds Overview | Monroe Capital LLC

 

Diversified private credit 

AN2 last year - 215k

AS1 this year - 250k

AS2 next year - guided to 280k 

 

$500M AUM non-NY/SF/LA, but very lean team with 5 investment professionals. 1st year VP.

$170k salary/ $170K bonus with 7-10% raise TBD. 4% carry hasn't hit yet. The pay bump is below market but it's a pretty nice gig with solid upward mobility and a great group of folks. 

Life is more than dollars
 

Interesting data points on this thread. I received MF Credit offers and was guided to ~$300k all-in for Associate 1. This is not for special sits/distressed groups, but for capital structure flexible groups doing mostly sponsor financing. No carry or co invest, but total comp seemed to scale nicely YoY. Would like to see some Senior Associate / VP numbers as well.

 

Do MF Credit teams solely recruit from IB for associate roles? Interested if it would be possible from an analyst role in private credit with flexible mandate to get to a MF Credit team and what that process would look like

 

Many places? Which shops are these? I’ve only seen one that would consider hiring an associate with 1 year’s experience.

 

You're not wrong. Golub Capital senior associates raised to $175 base, got a midyear bonus of ~$50k, hoping for at least 1x bonus.

 

Also - any information on VP comp would be helpful as well. Had heard that ASO 1 base comp was raised to $160 on another forum. Maybe wrong - $5 bump in base per year from ASO 1 to Sr. ASO doesn't sound right. 

Array
 

Received offer from new DL platform a few months ago, new group formed under a large AM ($100Bn AUM). Senior assoc comp package was $125 base + 100% bonus target. Declined offer 

 

LMM Distressed Debt / special sits Private Credit fund. Around $750mm AUM, should hit $1bn when new fund closes this year. 

Associate 2 on the Portfolio Mgmt side

Base: $140k

Bonus: $75k

Should be promoted to Senior Associate towards the end of 2022 which would include pay bump and carry. Probably a bit on the lower end of the comp spectrum but I usually work around 50-55 hours a week (occasional 65s during crazy periods). Fund is growing at quite a fast pace and we charge 2/20 so hopefully carry is meaningful.  

 

This is not an optimal comp: hours ratio. You can move to the investment side at MM shops and easily clear 175/175 salary/bonus as a VP with some carry. 

Life is more than dollars
 

Thanks for all the feedback, folks. Following up on a recent post, I submitted all datapoints given to me to the LitCap Survey: 

Hey - I submitted all these results to the LitCap survey: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ShxNiwyMepwNVkLYvVpXH6IkAEQ5k6G…

There were too many Anon submissions so it made the most sense here.

My 2021 figures: Salary and bonus up 9%. A little disappointed considering the big direct lenders increase comp 15-20% with bonuses up 20-40%... however, I am at an opportunistic fund and we focus on junior capital and didn't deploy as much capital as the direct lenders... So goes life. 

Cheers

Life is more than dollars
 

Data point:

Work at large DL shop, first full year post stub

  • Base raised from 125 -> 175
  • Bonus raised from 175 (pro rated) -> 250

Overall seems average for industry, was expecting more though tbh

 

How does comp scale as you progress in your career in senior/unitranche focused lenders vs. more opportunistic/junior credit/structured equity shops?

 

In my experience, this is pretty in line with non-NYC year 1 VP at a smaller AUM shop. Bonus % of salary is a little higher though, so congrats!

Life is more than dollars
 

For reference - signed with an MF firm earlier this year (one with a more pronounced PE platform). Associate 1 offer is 150 + 150 target. Was told that most credit firms made a killing last year so target bonus stretched from 100% to 110%-115%, although this firm in particular tends to rewards top bucket performance with an extra 8-10% on the YE bonus anyways. $300 all-in is now market for MF firms - those were my expectations going into recruiting and turned down an offer from another large player that was offering ~250. 

 

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