How European private equity & credit firms can still pay you €37m+ in 2026
Private equity has had a bit of a rough time of things recently, with exits plummeting and the favoured method of cashing out of investment recently being a game of hot potato. Private credit, which has done better, is starting to face similar headwinds. But if things work out for the industry, however, there are still some huge pay packages on the table.
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Data from recruitment consultancy Heidrick & Struggles suggests that top managing partners at European private capital (including both private equity and credit) firms can earn compensation (salaries and bonuses) of up to €1.4m ($1.6m), as well as carried interest payments of €37m ($44m), depending on the size of their employer – with bigger firms, known as megafunds, being more generous than smaller ones.
Heidrick says that slightly lower-tier partners, meanwhile, might expect salaries and bonuses of up to €957k ($1.1m) and carried interest payments of up to €24m ($29m). Principals, who are the equivalent of banking VPs or Directors, can expect compensation of up to €442k ($528k) and carried interest of up to €9m ($11m).
There is significant variation in carried interest payments depending on sector. Managing partners and regular partners working at buyout funds – “traditional” private equity – are the best paid, while those in venture capital are the worst paid (still millionaires, though).
Interestingly, despite the success of the private credit sector in recent years, carried interest for its professionals is lacking. Carried interest paid to direct lending (the single largest component of private credit) partners and managing partners was significantly less than the carried interest paid to buyout partners and managing partners.
It’s worth noting two things. The first is that carried interest is not a yearly payment – it’s based on a fund’s lifecycle performance, which is usually round five years. It’s also dependent on a fund being successfully exited, which is something that private equity funds have struggled with in recent years. We go into more detail in our carried interest article here.
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