New PE Compensation Report: No Exits, No Problem
It doesn't feel so good to be a banker these days, but damn it feels good to run a portfolio company. CEOs in charge of companies that LBO'd in 2006 took home hefty performance-based salaries in 2007. The biggest breadwinners, including Travelport's Jeff Clarke and GMAC's Eric Feldstein, are listed below. That trend mirrors the compensation of PE pros. Despite taking hits from the credit crunch, PE compensation managed to increase, albeit mildly. Glocap and Thomson Reuters' 2009 Private Equity Compensation Report shows that total cash compensation rose for PE partners around 1% for growth/equity firms, 3% for mega-buyout firms and declined by 2% for firms with less than $300 million AUM. The increases and decreases were echoed at VC firms and funds of funds. But these increases are nothing compared to years past. According to the report's executive summary: Compared to last year when there were cases of double-digit increases at mega-funds, this year there was only one instance (Associates) where compensation rose more than 5%. The other notable change is the increased distribution of carry
