Women in PE continue to earn less than male counterparts – survey

The 2021 report is the law firm's ninth survey of its kind and includes responses from 439 PE professionals in Europe and Africa who provided their compensation data from 2019, 2020 an 2021 in an online survey.

The survey once again found that women generally earn less than men at partner, associate and principal level. The greatest disparity in pay by gender in 2021 was again found at partner and managing partner level, with male partners earning 21% more than their female counterparts. However, the survey found that male partners earned around a third more than female partners in 2020 and 2019, meaning that 2021 saw a decrease in this pay gap.

Having said that, the report's spotlight on the data for the UK found that the country bucked the gender pay disparity seen across EMEA in one investment professional role. At principal level in the UK, women have consistently earned more than men over the past three years of the survey, although the gap closed somewhat in 2020, with the difference moving from 77% more in 2020 to 18% in 2021.

The report noted that recruitment competition is fierce now that 2020's hiring freezes have been removed, with junior level staff in demand from technology and innovation firms, as well as from financial services as a whole. The industry is also seeing fierce competition for diverse candidates from underrepresented groups and backgrounds, meaning that sponsors will need to work on creating an inclusive culture and replacing their apprenticeship and "up-or-out" development models with alternative development programmes.

Operating partner roles were prioritised for any hiring that did take place in 2020 and they continue to be in demand, alongside professionals with fundraising and pre-acquisition work experience. However, there remains greater hesitancy among candidates to move countries for a new role or to move before they see the fruits of 2021's increased dealflow, according to the report.

The survey found that 36% of respondents had seen a rise in base compensation from 2020 to 2021, with 39% seeing a rise in their cash bonus, whereas 52% of respondents saw an increase in base compensation in the previous year. Looking at a three-year compound annual growth rate of cash compensation, the report found that associates have seen the greatest rise in compensation, recording a 22.21% increase on average, versus an 11.2% increase for principals and an 8.9% increase for partners.

The UK spotlight found that there is a starker difference between base and bonus increases in the 2019-2020 period versus the 2020-2021 period. In the UK, more than two thirds of those surveyed saw an increase in both base compensation and bonus between 2019 and 2020, whereas only 34% saw an increase in base from 2020 to 2021, with 40% reporting an increase in bonus. The UK also saw a higher proportion of investment professionals reporting a decrease in base and bonus than EMEA as a whole; 28% reported a base compensation decrease and 26% reported a bonus compensation decrease in the UK, versus 16% an 17% respectively in EMEA as a whole.

Credit and distressed-investment professionals reported the highest overall compensation in 2021 of the strategies included in the survey (buyout, growth capital, credit, direct lending, secondaries, fund-of-funds, co-investment and venture), according to the survey.

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