Thelander IF Digest: August 2023

Does Smaller AUM Equal Less Compensation?

The Thelander surveys are constantly evolving to keep up with the ever-changing market. We are excited to announce that our total assets under management (AUM) filter has expanded to include the lower categories of: Less than $25 million, $25 – $49.9 million, $50 – $99.9 million, $100 – $249.9 million… all the way up to $7 billion +.

August’s Thelander Digest takes some of this data for a spin, and examines how compensation for investment professionals looks under $100 million in total AUM. Let’s dig in!

Chart 1 shows the median total cash for investment professionals from managing general partner to associate. It splits them up into two groups by AUM: less than $50 million and $50 – $99.9 million. 

• The median total cash increases for each position as the AUM increases, except for the associate position.

Chart 2 shows the median carried interest percentage for investment professionals from managing general partner to associate. It’s split by less than $50 million and $50 – $99.9 million in total AUM.

• The median carried interest percentage doubled for managing general partners and senior partners when moving from under $25 million to $25 – $49.9 million in total AUM.
• There was a slight increase for managing director / partners and directors / principals. However, we see a slight decrease for senior associates and associates. 

Chart 3 looks at data for venture capital firms only.

• When adding on the extra filter of venture capital firms, we saw that the median total cash did not shift dramatically. 

OUR FINDINGS: 
So, does smaller AUM mean less compensation for some positions? The answer is clearly, YES! 

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