Executive Summary
The 2025 compensation environment across Private Equity, Private Credit, and Real Estate investment management reflects moderate growth in base salaries, selective bonus recovery, and a recalibration of carried interest pools.
Despite subdued deal flow in 2023–2024, hiring momentum in early 2025 indicates renewed optimism — particularly in middle-market private equity and value-add real estate. While total compensation levels have increased modestly, firms are differentiating pay through carry and promote structures more than through cash bonuses.
Highlights
- Base salaries rose between 3–6% on average across levels.
- Bonuses remained flat to slightly up (+2–4%)year-over-year.
- Carry/promote participation widened slightly — with top performers capturing more meaningful allocations.
- Analyst hiring rebounded strongly, led by private credit.
- European compensation continues to lag North American levels by 10–15% at mid-senior ranks, but parity at partner level is narrowing.
Methodology
This report synthesizes 2024–2025 compensation data from proprietary Caravel benchmarking across private equity, private credit, and real estate investment roles.
All data were normalized to 2025 USD (and GBP/EUR equivalents) and expressed as Base Salary, Bonus, Total Cash Compensation, and Carried Interest/Promote — both as a percentage of fund economics and as estimated USD value based on a 2× net return and 20% carry pool.
Real Estate (Private Equity & Investment Management)
| Level | Base (USD ‘000) | Bonus (USD ‘000) | Total (USD ‘000) | Promote (% of Pool) | Est. Promote Value (USD ‘000) |
| Analyst | 100 – 125 | 40 – 75 | 150 – 200 | — | — |
| Associate | 130 – 180 | 100 – 150 | 230 – 330 | 0.01 – 0.05 | 50 – 250 |
| Vice President | 180 – 250 | 175 – 275 | 355 – 525 | 0.05 – 0.15 | 150 – 400 |
| Director / Principal | 250 – 350 | 250 – 450 | 500 – 800 | 0.10 – 0.35 | 400 – 1,000 |
| Managing Director | 350 – 500 | 500 – 900 | 850 – 1,400 | 0.25 – 0.75 | 1,000 – 2,000 |
| Head of Platform | 540 – 850 | 850 – 4,300 | 1,400 – 5,000 | 0.75 – 2.00 | 2,000 – 7,000 |
Trend: Promote pools remain highly variable; median decline in 2024 bonuses was ~10%, but base pay held steady.
North America – Private Credit
| Level | Base (USD ‘000) | Bonus (USD ‘000) | Total (USD ‘000) | Long-Term Incentive (LTI) / Carry Equivalent (% Fund) | Est. Value (USD ‘000) |
| Analyst | 110 – 140 | 35 – 70 | 145 – 210 | — | — |
| Associate | 150 – 210 | 100 – 160 | 250 – 370 | Deferred cash / phantom equity | 50 – 100 |
| Vice President | 190 – 260 | 180 – 300 | 370 – 560 | 0.05 – 0.15 | 150 – 400 |
| Principal | 230 – 320 | 250 – 500 | 480 – 800 | 0.10 – 0.30 | 400 – 900 |
| Managing Director | 300 – 425 | 350 – 700 | 650 – 1,125 |
0.25 – 0.75 | 1,000 – 2,000 |
| Partner / Head | 425 – 650 | 750 – 1,500 | 1,250 – 2,500 |
0.75 – 1.50 | 2,000 – 5,000 |
Trend: Carry-equivalent participation expanding, especially for credit professionals in hybrid platforms (multi- strategy, direct lending, special sits) e.g. Ares Direct Lending + Opportunistic Credit, Apollo Hybrid Capital & Structured Solutions etc.
CRE Lending, Origination & Real Estate Finance – North America (2025)
Overview
2025 compensation in commercial real estate (CRE) lending, origination, and structured real estate finance has rebounded after two years of constrained deal volume.
Transaction momentum returned in Q1–Q2 2025, driven by refinancing demand, transitional assets, and opportunistic bridge and mezzanine deals.
Across the sector, base salaries rose modestly (3–5%), while bonuses expanded sharply in origination and bridge lending platforms.
Profit-share and “carry-equivalent” participation—once limited to senior originators—are now reaching senior VPs and team leaders.
Analyst Hiring Trends (2025)
- Hiring at the analyst and junior associate levels has accelerated as lenders rebuild origination pipelines.
- Signing bonuses have returned at many large banks, debt funds, and insurance-affiliated platforms.
- New analysts are often coming from investment banking or real-estate finance master’s programs.
| Role | Base (USD ’000) | Bonus (USD ’000) | Total (USD ’000) | Notes |
| Analyst – CRE Lending | 95 – 125 | 25 – 60 | 120 – 185 | Modest signing bonuses ($5K–$15K) now common again. |
| Analyst – Real Estate Structured Finance | 105 – 140 | 40 – 80 | 145 – 220 | IB/Capital Markets background preferred; NYC/LA premium applies. |
Compensation Benchmarks by Deal Type
Senior / Permanent Loans (Life-Co, Bank Lending, CMBS)
| Level | Base (USD ’000) | Bonus (USD ’000) | Total (USD ’000) | Profit-Share / Platform % | Est. Value (USD ’000) |
| Associate | 130 – 175 | 70 – 120 | 200 – 295 | — | — |
| Vice President | 175 – 250 | 120 – 200 | 295 – 450 | 0.05 – 0.15 % | 75 – 250 |
| Director / Principal | 250 – 350 | 200 – 350 | 450 – 700 | 0.10 – 0.25 % | 150 – 400 |
| Managing Director | 350 – 475 | 350 – 550 | 700 – 1,025 | 0.25 – 0.50 % | 400 – 850 |
| Head of Lending / Platform | 475 – 650+ | 500 – 800+ | 975 – 1,450+ | 0.50 – 1.00 % | 800 – 1,800 |
Trend: Permanent lenders pay people based on how much business they generate and relationships they maintain, not on the investment performance of risk capital.
Bridge / Transitional Lending (Debt Funds, Private Lenders)
| Level | Base (USD ’000) | Bonus (USD ’000) | Total (USD ’000) | Deal / Pool % |
Est. Value (USD ’000) |
| Associate | 140 – 190 | 90 – 160 | 230 – 350 | 0.05 – 0.10 % |
50 – 150 |
| Vice President | 190 – 275 | 150 – 275 | 340 – 550 | 0.10 – 0.25 % |
150 – 300 |
| Director | 275 – 400 | 300 – 500 | 575 – 900 | 0.25 – 0.50 % |
300 – 700 |
| Managing Director | 400 – 550 | 500 – 850 | 900 – 1,400 | 0.50 – 1.00 % |
600 – 1,200 |
| Partner / Head of Lending | 550 – 750+ | 700 – 1,200+ | 1,250 – 2,000+ |
1.00 – 2.00 % |
1,200 – 2,500 |
Trend: Bridge and transitional lenders pay the highest total cash due to risk pricing and origination fees. Carry-style economics or “profit-participation pools” are becoming common at VP+ levels.
Mezzanine / Structured / Preferred Equity Lending
| Level | Base (USD ’000) | Bonus (USD ’000) | Total (USD ’000) | Fund / Promote % |
Est. Value (USD ’000) |
| Associate | 150 – 200 | 100 – 160 | 250 – 360 | 0.05 – 0.10 % | 50 – 150 |
| Vice President | 200 – 275 | 150 – 275 | 350 – 550 | 0.10 – 0.25 % | 150 – 350 |
| Principal / Director | 275 – 375 | 250 – 450 | 525 – 825 | 0.25 – 0.50 % | 300 – 700 |
| Managing Director | 375 – 525 | 450 – 850 | 825 – 1,375 | 0.50 – 1.00 % | 600 – 1,400 |
| Partner / Head | 525 – 700+ | 700 – 1,200+ | 1,225 – 1,900+ | 1.00 – 2.00 % | 1,200 – 2,500 |
Trend: Mezzanine and structured lenders receive PE-style carry; their economics closely mirror hybrid credit funds.
Firm-Size Adjustments
| Firm Size / Type | Adjustment to Base | Adjustment to Bonus / LTI | Comment |
| Global / Mega Platform (>$20 bn AUM) | +10 – 20% | +20 – 30% | Stronger fee base, larger pools; more structured LTIs. |
| Mid-Market Fund / Regional Lender ($2–20 bn AUM) | Baseline | Baseline | Most prevalent range reflected in tables above. |
| Boutique / New Fund (<$2 bn AUM) | −10 – 15% | Higher upside | Often lower base but aggressive performance bonuses or deal overrides. |
Key Takeaways
- Analyst hiring has fully resumed, particularly in credit-oriented and transitional lending shops.
- Signing bonuses ($5K–$15K typical) are back for top university and IB-track hires.
- Bridge and mezzanine roles pay the strongest total cash and include PE-style profit participation.
- Permanent lending offers lower volatility but less upside; bonuses tied to loan origination volume.
- Firm size matters: mega-platforms pay more consistent salaries; boutiques offer greater variable upside.
- Carried-interest analogues (“profit participation” or “platform override”) now appear from VP level upward.
