PE bonus expectations plunged in 2015

Private equity professionals were expecting an average bonus of about £104,000 ($153,000; €141,000) – or 71 percent of their average annual salary – in 2015, according to a survey of London-based workers by recruitment firm Astbury Marsden. The figure represents a dramatic 28 percent decrease compared to the £145,625 in bonus compensation expected by respondents 2014’s survey.

Conducted in September and October of last year, the annual survey asked more than 1,000 people working in London, primarily in the financial services sectors, whether or not they were expecting a bonus in 2015 and what they expected that bonus to be.

The 2015 edition of the survey, published late last month, revealed that not only were London-based private equity professionals expecting smaller bonuses in 2015 than in 2014, but only 80 percent of private equity respondents expected to receive bonuses at all, compared to 100 percent in 2014.

The question now is whether or not the 2015 bonuses received will align with industry professionals’ lower expectations.

Despite the gloomy outlook for private equity bonuses, however, the industry’s bonus expectations still far exceed the bonus prospects in other financial sectors. Comparatively, those in private banking and wealth management predicted earning £59,196 in 2015 bonuses, while those in investment banking only expected to earn £24,461.