With private equity (PE) activity in the country picking up pace, salaries of top executives as well as mid-level professionals are set to look up, although they are yet to see the heights reached before the financial meltdown. Data from Grant Thornton reveals that 43 PE deals valued at $1.14 billion (around R 5,130 crore) took place in May alone, the highest in more than three years, compared to 15 deals worth $260 million (around R1,170 crore) during the corresponding month in 2010, pointing at better prospects in remunerations in this segment. This is a positive sign in a sector that saw stagnation in hiring and salaries during the global meltdown.
Consultants said top level executives, including managing partners and partners, now get a fixed pay of anything between R1 crore and 1.5 crore per annum currently, compared with R1.75-2 crore plus before the slowdown. Firms have become cost conscious now and more emphasis is laid on variable pay or the ?carry?, which is a private equity manager’s share of the profits on investments.
?The salaries have definitely become better but are yet to reach the pre-crisis level. A private equity firm is a small set up, typically with 8 to 10 people. The entry-level salaries used to be in the range of R10 to 20 lakh per annum and mid-level, R20- 45 lakh per annum before the crisis and dipped during recession. They have picked up now, but are still marginally lower,? reveals E Balaji, MD and CEO of top HR consulting firm Ma Foi Randstad. At present, a chief executive in a PE firm would get a pay of anything between R1 crore and 1.75 crore per annum.
A senior vice-president or executive vice president would get Rs 65 lakh to 1 crore plus per annum. An assistant vice-president would draw in the range of R45 to 60 lakh a year and investment manager or associates would get paid in the range of R25 to 40 lakh per annum. Analysts, on the other hand, get anything between R10 and 15 lakh per annum.
According to Nikhilesh Goel, investment manager at Avigo Capital Partners, salary levels have largely remained the same. ?International private equity firms pay a higher salary as compared to Indian private equity firms whose salaries are 30-40% lower. ?