The respondents in the survey were asked to indicate the number of investment professionals working in their organization. Reflective of the industry, 77% of the respondents indicated that they are working with firms that have less than 50 professionals and a full 89% stated their particular group is made up of less than 25 professionals. Only 14% said they work for firms greater than 100 people.

Various nations from across the globe were represented in the survey. The USA represents 67% of all the respondents. The UK was the second highest with 7%. France represented 3% of the total respondent numbers with China, Germany, Hong Kong and India representing 2% of the respondents each. All the other nations included in the survey represented the remaining 15% of the respondents. As expected, in the US California had the highest number of respondents and represents 22% of the total. California had as many as New York, Massachusetts and Illinois combined. New York comes in 2nd with 12%, Massachusetts’ respondents comprise 6% with Illinois and Connecticut comprising of 4% and 3% respectively.

From the 2007 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report by Job Search Digest

The compensation progression clearly follows the career path. On average, the compensation of associates and senior associates is less than 40% of what a managing director makes and about 65% of what a principal in the firm makes. Also the most senior team members realize 35% higher bonus percentages on average. The real money starts at the Principal level and is found to nearly double at the Managing Director level. A surprising factor is that Associates earn nearly as much as Senior Associates. This may be an indication of the high demand for talent in the market even at the lower levels or a byproduct of varying responsibilities by title between firms.

Not surprisingly, the more years of industry experience one brings, the greater likelihood he or she will participate in carry. From a title perspective, the survey found 9 out of 10 partners receive carry and 6 out of 10 of those on the partner track also stated they are receiving some level of carry today.

When examining all the responses of those who said they were dissatisfied with their compensation, many stated that lack of sharing in the upside opportunity was the main reason for their dissatisfaction with their pay packages.

From the 2007 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report by Job Search Digest

An MBA degree in Private Equity and Venture Capital jobs is pretty much a standard. Over 50% of the respondents were MBA’s (or had an international equivalent post-graduate degree) and 82% in total have an advanced degree of some sort. It turns out the pay difference, however, is not all that significant. The survey indicates that MBA’s earn a base salary 19% higher than non-MBA’s. This gap is narrowed by the difference in bonus payout, where MBA’s receive a 6% smaller bonus. The vacation benefits for both MBA’s and non-MBA’s were found to be similar.

From the 2007 Private Equity and Venture Capital Compensation Report by Job Search Digest

In 2007, Job Search Digest conducted a survey of professionals who were involved with venture capital or private equity investment firms. There were hundreds of respondents from various parts of the world. Participation from firms both large and small such as: Credit Suisse, Labrador Ventures, Intel Capital, Mayfield, New Enterprise Associates, and SoftBank Capital.

The survey results address issues such as the compensation earned by professionals and their work satisfaction. The survey also aims to understand how these professionals perceive their work and what they expect from their employers.

Some notable findings include:

• The annual average compensation for professionals in the industry is $224,000 with an average 3.5 weeks of vacation benefit.
• Nearly ½ of respondents bring at least 10 years of work experience to the table and only 5 years of private equity or venture capital experience.
• Despite solid compensation packages and an optimistic view of future pay increases, there is overwhelming dissatisfaction among most of these professionals.
• Although common in the industry, an MBA doesn’t guarantee better compensation.
• The difference between the UK and US in terms of compensation and overall work and personal life balance is negligible.
• At the lower levels, there is very little difference in cash compensation between the US East and West coasts and even the Central states. The differences become significant in the higher level positions.

Job Search Digest is preparing the 2008 survey and will again invite industry insider to participate in the most comprehensive study in the Private Equity and Venture Capital industry. The results help private equity job and venture capital job seekers better manage their career and fund managers to differentiate the benefits of working for their particular firm.