McLagan Data and Insights for
Alternative Asset Managers

Rewards Solutions

More than 350 alternative asset management firms ─ including real estate investment managers, alternative credit firms, single family offices, venture capital firms, and multi-product traditional asset managers ─ rely on the McLagan compensation platform to meet their compensation benchmarking needs. With the most comprehensive compensation intelligence, market insights and deep industry expertise, your firm will have access to the tools necessary for building a total rewards strategy for 2021 and beyond with confidence.

Why McLagan

We help leading firms assess their pay level competitiveness, align compensation structures with business strategy, and achieve superior levels of people and business performance. By partnering with us, you'll benefit from the largest compensation database and so much more.

What you can expect: 

• Specific and Custom Compensation Data McLagan’s alternative asset management database is the largest of its kind, with 300 participating firms in 2020. Our survey tools help you establish pay standards confidently across every reward element and on a job-by-job basis.
• Firm versus Market View With McLagan data, you’ll be empowered to assess the relative competitiveness of your employees’ salary, cash incentive, long-term award, and total compensation levels as compared to your peers, on an ‘all participant’ or ‘customized peer group’ basis.
• Industry Expertise and Trusted Resources We take a collaborative, tailored approach to each engagement and provide a full range of pay-related consulting services to support your pay strategies, including annual incentive plan design, long-term incentive / equity plan design, board and compensation committee advisory services, and so much more.
• Industry Leading Events and Insights We offer clients access to a range of events and resources to address the evolving world of work, such as client roundtables and webinars, thought leadership, and pulse surveys.
• Unmatched Global Financial Services Database Our surveys are globally consistent across the full financial services sectors. Using a universal job matching and leveling structure allows you to compare roles across McLagan’s full range of surveys, including asset management, wealth management and banking.
• Powerful Technology Platform Our compensation platform, McLaganLive, puts you in the driver’s seat as you explore compensation data, evaluate your firm’s market competitiveness, and make better data-driven decisions quickly and efficiently.

Participating Firms

With McLagan, you'll be joining some amazing firms. In 2020, our surveys spanned hundreds of participating alternative asset management firms, including:

Compensation Data Elements

Power your annual compensation decisions and set pay with confidence with the most comprehensive compensation dataset. Our survey data facilitates analyses on a job-by-job basis across every reward element, including:  

Job Library

We analyze pay levels for all key positions in primary business areas of the alternative asset management industry. Explore our survey database coverage below:

• Hedge Funds
• Private Equity
• Real Estate
• Alternative Credit
• Financial Services Infrastructure
• Leadership and Sales
• Technology

Market Intelligence and Consulting

Attract and retain top talent, control compensation expense budgets and ensure equitable pay practices with insights, analytics and advice. Our market practice studies provide an objective perspective and unique insight into human capital trends and performance alignment, making our market practice studies the perfect companion piece to compensation benchmarking. Explore offerings below:

Market Practice Studies: 

• Benefits Our alternative asset management benefits study provides trends and insights into competitive costs and offerings for health and wellness benefits, gym memberships, flexible working arrangements, tuition assistance, and more.
• Carried Interest This study provides insights into carried interest and co-investment plan mechanics and highlights industry trends.
• Corporate Venture Capital This study provides corporations with insights into captive venture capital team staffing levels, investment mandates, pay practices, and absolute pay levels for investment professionals. As a participant, you will gain access to broader competitive market pay levels for 3rd party venture capital/private equity firms.
• Diversity and Inclusion Developing a diverse workforce is an important element of your firm’s brand and a powerful differentiator for talent attraction and employee retention. Our studies help firms understand how their practices and workforce diversity compares to other leading asset management firms.
• Environmental, Social and Governance Understand how your ESG approach compares to other leading asset management firms. The study covers important trends in function structures, talent profile and how resources are allocated to build ESG capabilities.
• Headcount/Staffing Many firms are asking themselves, “are we appropriately sized for our level of AUM, complexity, strategy, and global footprint”. This study will cover absolute and relative staffing levels by title, function, and region and provide insight into firms’ hiring plans for 2021.
• Operational Risk IQ Addressing operational risk proactively is more important than ever. By identifying and quantifying operational risk factors at your firm relative to competitors, this study details how your responses may be rated in an institutional ODD evaluation and interpreted relative to others.
• Pay Practice Studies for Alternative Credit, Hedge Funds, Private Equity, and Real Estate These studies cover competitive market practice as it relates to compensation plan design (i.e., how professionals are paid). For example, salary caps/bands, how incentive pools are funded, mechanics around deferral/LTI plans, common practice regarding phantom equity/real equity, etc.
• Private Markets Analysts and Associates With this study, you will gain access to information on competitive pay levels, headcount and program management trends (by class year) for analyst and associate class years. In addition, we will also address pay levels for non-US staff, performance management, internship programs, and differences in private equity programs/rates versus real estate and credit programs.
• Technology Practices This study provides insight into how asset management firms have evolved their technology and cybersecurity approach in the aftermath of 2020, including outsourcing and location strategy. As a participant, you will also gain insight into how cybersecurity professionals are being assessed and paid.

Compensation Consulting: 

• Annual Incentive Plan Design Our advice spans firm-wide and functional incentive plans, as well as investment staff annual incentive plans, including relative investment plans, fee / revenue sharing plans, partnership plans, and fund deferrals.
• Board and Compensation Committee Advisory We are a trusted partner, with advice and services spanning: executive pay reviews, executive pay plan design, compensation committee charters, board of director pay, and technical guidance related to pay regulations and the voting practices of proxy advisors, such as ISS.
• Carried Interest and Co-Investment Plan Design We help clients design market competitive carried interest and co-investment plans that reinforce individual firm’s investment and HR objectives.
• Competitive Pay Level Analysis We benchmark market pay levels to provide insights about your firm’s relative pay competitiveness by function, location, business unit, title, and/or pay element.
• Long-Term Incentive / Equity Plan Design We partner with alternative asset managers to design tailored, specific plans, including equity and LTI; real or phantom equity and divisional LTI; partner and pre-partner points; carried interest, co-investment, and deferral.
• Pay Strategy Development We guide firms in aligning pay and performance, peer group development and targeted mix of pay positioning.
• Sales Compensation Program Design We assist with defining the design features of commission and/or bonus plans across institutional sales; and linking pay to gross and/or net sales through commission, structured incentive, or bonus plans for intermediary / wholesale sales.