Welcome to the 2025 Europe Private Capital Compensation Survey. This report provides a comprehensive picture of both compensation practices and backgrounds of investment and operating professionals at private capital firms across Europe.

This year’s survey includes responses from 302 professionals. We would like to thank each person who has completed the survey over the years—we appreciate your time and effort in contributing to the project. If you wish to discuss the survey in greater detail, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Market context

The private capital market closes out 2025 in a similar situation to 2024. Liquidity is still the defining constraint, LPs are evaluating managers through a DPI-first lens, and the hierarchy is clear: those who have returned capital are able to raise it; those who have not faced slow, uncertain fundraises. Fundraising, therefore, remains bifurcated. Strong platforms, especially larger platforms, continue to attract commitments, but many others, particularly those in the middle, are extending timelines or downsizing targets. With a meaningful cohort of firms returning to fundraising in early 2026, the coming quarter will be decisive.

The investor mix continues to shift. With institutional portfolios still tight on liquidity, private-wealth channels have become a strategic growth engine for many managers. UHNW platforms, family offices, and insurance capital are now established allocators rather than experimental ones, and evergreen and semi-liquid structures have accelerated as a result, offering investors ongoing access and smoother pacing than traditional closed-end funds. What began as product innovation is quickly becoming a structural feature of private markets.

Deal activity improved through the back half of the year as financing markets stabilised and valuation expectations came closer to meeting. Still, buyers remain highly selective. Businesses with durable earnings, pricing power, and clear value-creation pathways continue to attract competitive processes; cyclical names or assets requiring heavy capital have seen more muted demand. The relative strength of public markets has sharpened scrutiny further, increasing pressure on managers to justify private-market performance given longer hold periods and sluggish distributions.

With exit routes still constrained, liquidity has increasingly been engineered rather than earned. Capital-solutions tools, GP-led secondaries and continuation vehicles, and NAV lending have become mainstream mechanisms to manage holding periods, provide optional liquidity to LPs and GPs, while offering the option to retain control of high-conviction assets.

Direct lending continues to command attention. The asset class remains a structural winner, but recent stress has heightened focus on underwriting quality and concentration risk. The easy spread capture of the early rate-hike period has given way to a more nuanced environment in which origination discipline and downside protection carry greater weight. LPs are asking deeper questions, particularly of platforms that scaled rapidly during 2021–2023.

These market dynamics are influencing how firms hire. Demand remains concentrated at the senior end, where firms prize leaders with a realised track record, credibility with LPs and the ability to lead a strategy or sector. Firms are using this period to enhance leadership capability ahead of a fundraise, build capabilities in capital-solutions or wealth-oriented products, or reinforce sector depth.

Demand for mid-level “deal captains” remains subdued; slower deployment and longer holds mean execution capacity is not the limiting factor it once was. Associate hiring is steady but measured. On the non-investment side, capital-formation roles, particularly those focused on private-wealth distribution and semi-liquid product expertise, remain the most active.

As 2026 approaches, the market feels transitional. Fundraising conditions remain challenging; wealth channels and evergreen products continue to scale; deal activity is improving; and capital-solutions strategies are growing rapidly.

The coming quarters will be defining. Firms that can demonstrate realised performance, articulate a clear strategic identity and secure consistent access to capital will strengthen their position. Others—lacking track-record, differentiation or capital formation infrastructure—will face difficult decisions.

For full compensation data, download the full report.

About the authors

Tom Thackeray (tthackeray@heidrick.com) is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ global Private Equity Practice; he is based in the London office.

Henry Price-Haworth (hpricehaworth@heidrick.com) is an engagement manager in the Private Equity Practice; he is based in the London office.