Thelander IF Digest: July 2025

Emerging Investment Firms Show Compensation Growth for Key Players

How is compensation for investment professionals stacking up so far for 2025? Using one of our newest platform enhancements, year over year compensation trends, we are going to dig in and see how the median total cash has changed for investment professionals since 2023. 

YoY Median Total Cash, Less than $250 Million in AUM

Key takeaways: 

Median total cash compensation rose across the board, except at the Associate level, for investment professionals at firms with less than $250 million in AUM.

Sr. Managing Directors / Sr. Partners and Managing Directors / Partners saw the greatest cash compensation increase, with the median rising by roughly $50,000 between 2024 and 2025. 

YoY Median Total Cash, $250 – $499.9 Million in AUM

Source: Thelander-PitchBook Investment Firm Compensation Survey

Key takeaways: 

Salaries were relatively flat for investment professionals at firms with $250 – $499.9 Million in AUM. 

Managing General Partners and Managing Directors / Partners saw slight increases of less than $10,000 in median total cash compensation between 2024 and 2025. 

YoY Median Total Cash, $500 – $999.9 Million in AUM

Source: Thelander-PitchBook Investment Firm Compensation Survey

Key takeaways: 

At firms with $500 – $999.9 million in total AUM, Managing General Partners saw the biggest increase in median total cash from $762,879 to $931,000 (2023 to 2025). 

Managing Directors / Partners and Directors / Principals saw cash compensation decline below 2023 levels. 

Other investment professional positions saw an increase in medial total cash since 2023. 

The Bottom Line

Our analysis shows that median total cash compensation is on the rise for investment professionals at emerging firms. We’re seeing the most growth across the board for total cash compensation at firms with less than $250 million in AUM. For larger firms, cash compensation is either flat or growth is sporadic – depending on the job title and firm size. 

If you are interested in learning more about the year over year dataset, respond to this email and a member of the Thelander customer success team will reach out to you directly. 

Participate in the Thelander-PitchBook Investment Firm Compensation Survey For More Data Today