Private capital compensation trends in Asia Pacific: 2018

Heidrick & Struggles’ fifth annual edition of this survey features compensation trend data from more than 170 professionals across the region working in local and global platforms. This year’s survey includes compensation data from 2015, 2016, and 2017 as well as data on expected compensation development in 2018. In addition to overall pooled data, we also analyzed responses by global versus regional funds and by strategy across buyout and growth capital.

In this year’s survey, compensation appears to be increasing across all levels of private capital investment professionals in the region, compared to our previous survey, and this trend is expected to continue into the near future. Moreover, while 42% of respondents reported receiving increases in base salary in 2017, 60% of respondents anticipate an increase in 2018. And anecdotal evidence from our search and advisory work across the region points toward the trend of increasing compensation continuing into 2019. This is especially true for positions that require in-depth, specific local or industry knowledge and networks.

About the authors

Michael Di Cicco (mdicicco@heidrick.com) is the regional managing partner of Heidrick & Struggles’ Private Equity Practice for the Asia Pacific region; he is based in the Singapore office.

Larry Oberfeld (loberfeld@heidrick.com) is the thought leadership specialist for the Private Equity Practice; he is based in the New York office.

Kanika Walia (kwalia@heidrick.com) is an assistant manager at the firm’s Knowledge Management Center; he is based in the Gurgaon office.