2025 Compensation Survey

·By Buyside Hub Team

Comprehensive compensation data across Private Credit, Private Equity, Investment Banking, and Hedge Funds

See below the results of the 2025 Wall Street Compensation Survey. At the time of writing, we have roughly 2,500 Buyside Hub users, so I want to thank everyone for their contributions.

Our Findings

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Private Credit

Private Credit compensation remains strong, with Associates making $267k/year, and 75th percentile Associates making $307k/year. This trend is even stronger in NYC, with $293k/year compensation for Associates in NYC, with Senior Associates quickly reaching $400k+ compensation levels. Compensation dramatically increases after 7-12 years of experience, with folks making $500k-$700k/year.

NYC Private Credit

US Private Credit (Excluding NYC)

Lower Middle Market Private Credit

Middle Market Private Credit

Upper Middle Market/Bulge Bracket Private Credit

Loans/High Yield

Please note, that in this profession Senior Analysts refer analysts with "seniority", as opposed to recent college grads. We've found that mid-level professionals are making a healthy living with ~$235k-$426k in total compensation.

NYC Loans/High Yield

US Loans/High Yield (Excluding NYC)

Private Equity

NYC Private Equity Associates make an average total compensation of $322k, while U.S. Private Equity Associates have an average total compensation of $268k. We found that mid-level PE professionals have a quick path to $500k-$600k of total compensation. Naturally, LMM PE is the lowest paid segment of Private Equity, with compensation dramatically rising for Megafunds. To view more information on deferred compensation and carried interest, please view our Industry Analytics Add-On.

NYC Private Equity

Lower Middle Market Private Equity

Middle Market Private Equity

Megafund Private Equity

US Private Equity (Excluding NYC)

Investment Banking

Due to weak deal flow, Investment Banking Analysts and Associates didn't have competitive compensation relative to high-paying buyside roles. However, we found that mid-level professionals are well compensated. Note, we believe hours are understated for investment bankers surveyed due to intern submissions and aren't reflective of the hours worked when there's significant deal flow.

NYC Investment Banking

US Investment Banking (Excluding NYC)

Hedge Funds

Compensation of $350k-$550k for younger professionals is generally what we expected. However, compensation is significantly higher for PMs who are making multi-millions of dollars.

That concludes this year's compensation report. Please view our Compensation and Analytics pages for further compensation information.

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