The average portfolio manager at a U.S. hedge fund expects to take home about $1.4 million this year, according to Institutional Investor’s All-America Buy-Side Compensation survey.
Employees of hedge funds with assets under management ranging from less than $500 million to more than $75 billion shared their current salary and expected 2018 bonuses with II for the second annual report, which breaks down pay by job title and firm AUM. Roughly 900 portfolio managers, research analysts, and managers-cum-analysts at North American hedge funds, investment advisory firms, and mutual funds responded to this year’s survey.
Hedge fund portfolio managers said they expected to earn $346,164 in base pay on average, up from $277,268 last year. Variable pay — including bonuses, commissions, and options — averaged just over $1 million.
The 2018 All-America Buy Side Compensation report measures the average base and variable compensation for Portfolio Managers, Portfolio Manager/Research Analysts, and Research Analysts at the top Hedge Funds, Investment Advisory Firms, and Mutual Funds in North America.
Participants in the survey:
- actively managed U.S. equity assets in 2018;
- disclosed their 2018 base compensation;
- disclosed their expected variable compensation (bonus, commission, options) for 2018; and
- disclosed what they expect to happen to their total compensation over the next 24 months.
- ~900 individuals responded to the survey
Compensation amounts given in currencies other than United States Dollars were converted to USD using the average exchange rates for May 2018.
Definitions:
Average Compensation
The average of the reported base and variable compensation figures in USD were calculated for each of the three title groups (Portfolio Managers, Portfolio Manager/Research Analysts, and Research Analysts) for each of the three institution types (Hedge Funds, Investment Advisory Firms, and Mutual Funds) broken out by eight AUM bands.
Compensation Distribution
The proportion of the group of individuals with a given title at a given institution type whose given base and variable compensation falls within each of the dollar amount ranges is calculated within each AUM band.
Expected Change in Compensation
The proportion of the group of individuals with a given title at a given institution type that gave each answer type is calculated within each AUM band.