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Published on:

18th Mar 2025

The Ultimate Guide to Deal Sourcing Compensation – Part 2

Is your compensation in line with your peers in private equity business development? Are you unsure of what the market standard is for base, bonus, and carry?

Today we break down the highly anticipated 2024 Business Development Compensation Survey, offering crucial insights into current compensation trends, bonus structures, and the factors that truly influence your earning potential in the competitive world of PE deal sourcing. Get the data you need to benchmark your worth and understand the evolving landscape of BD compensation.


CHAPTERS:


00:00 - The Compensation Conundrum: Are You Paid Fairly in PE BD?

01:11 - Unveiling the 2024 BD Compensation Survey: What's Inside?

01:49 - Behind the Data: Survey Methodology and Participation Insights

03:55 - Who Responded?: Demographics of the BD Compensation Survey

06:23 - Lower Middle Market Dominance: Where BD Talent is Concentrated

08:11 - Regional Hotspots: Northeast Still Leads in BD Professionals

08:59 - Compensation Blind Spots: Why This Survey Matters

09:39 - The Compensation Gap: BD vs. Investment Professionals

11:14 - Diving into the Data: Key Compensation Takeaways for 2024

12:33 - Uniformity Across Titles?: Base Salary Increases by Seniority Level

13:36 - Bonus Bumps and Deal Volume: A Correlating Trend?

16:14 - Carry Allocation Trends: When Does Carry Kick In for BD Roles?

19:55 - Decoding the Numbers: Base, Bonus, and Total Comp by Title

23:24 - The Compensation Formula?: Regression Analysis and Key Drivers

25:14 - Seniority Rules: Title as the Top Predictor of Base Salary

27:31 - The Office Paradox: Days in Office and Compensation Correlation

30:44 - Discretionary vs. Metric-Driven Bonuses: What's the Breakdown?

33:56 - Success-Based Bonuses: A Smaller Piece of the Pie Than You Think

35:53 - The Bonus Structure Shift?: Moving Towards Metric-Based Compensation?

39:28 - Intermediary vs. Proprietary Sourcing: Impact on Bonus Structures?

41:45 - Get the Full Report: Where to Dive Deeper into the Data

42:33 - Stay Connected: Deal Sourcery and Coastal Partners Resources


Key Takeaways:

"We saw an 11% increase from 2023 base salary into 2024. And that's across all levels, seniority fund sizes. But you know, a healthy increase."

"VP level and above is when it starts to be much more common to have a carry allocation."

"Seniority level seems to be the primary indicator of like the most significant change in base compensation. And then fund size kind of behind that..."

"57% indicate that they only receive discretionary bonuses."


🔗 CONNECT WITH THE HOSTS:

Dan Herr: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielherr/

Matt Rooney: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-rooney-coastalpartners/

Coastal Partners: https://www.coastalpartners.co/


#BusinessDevelopment #PrivateEquity #CompensationSurvey

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About the Podcast

Deal Sourcery
Engagement & The Art of M&A
Deal Sourcery is the must-listen podcast for Private Equity professionals aiming to master the art of deal origination. Hosted by Dan Herr - who’s closed over $1B in transactions in the last decade while building and leading world-class deal sourcing teams - and Matt Rooney, a top recruiter in PE business development, we dive into cutting-edge trends, proven tactics, data-driven sourcing strategies and the technology shaping the future of M&A. Each episode features in-depth discussions with exited founders, PE professions and investment bankers, delivering exclusive, actionable insights you won’t find anywhere else. Tune in to elevate your sourcing skills and optimize your firm’s capital deployment.

About your hosts

Daniel Herr

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Dan is the visionary Founder & CEO of Acqwired after more than a decade sourcing more than $1B in TEV in proprietary private equity deals across software, services and industrials highly engineered end markets like aerospace, medical and consumer electronics.

Matt Rooney

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Matt is the Founder of Coastal Partners, a specialized recruiting firm focused on placing deal-sourcing and investor relations professionals in mid-market private equity. With over a decade of experience, he has placed hundreds of professionals and advises firms on building BD teams.

He regularly shares insights on private equity business development, breaking down role dynamics and hiring strategies for firms and professionals navigating the space.