NEWS
MM&K Annual Survey shows positive trends for Venture Capital Firms but a slowdown for Private Equity Firms
December 13, 2018
MM&K has published its 2018 PE/VC Compensation Report. The Report, published annually, provides participating houses with comprehensive and incisive up-to-date information and data on both the quantum and structure of remuneration paid to individuals working in and for PE & VC fund management entities in the UK and continental Europe.
2018 Outlook
The outlook for 2018 is now becoming clearer and in terms of deal activity, the statistics show a rather mixed picture.
European Private Equity (“PE”) activity, as measured by deal count, declined throughout the first three quarters of 2018. At the end of Q3, annual deal flow throughout Europe is showing a 15% decrease in the number of deals compared to the same period in 2017. Deal Value is also down by some 15%, suggesting perhaps that the uncertainty over Brexit is having an effect.
In contrast to PE, the Venture Capital (“VC”) industry appears to be booming with European VCs deploying capital at a record pace. However, the number of deals is slightly down on the same period as last year.
Looking at exits, it appears that there has been a 24% decrease in the number of PE exits in the first three quarters compared to the same period last year. This is in contrast to Venture, which has seen European exit activity at a four year high. The value of VC exits in the first nine months has exceeded their value in the whole of 2017.
But on another downbeat note for PE, LPs have so far committed €56bn to European funds that closed in the first nine months of the year, a noticeable decrease in committed capital compared to the same time period last year.
What all this will mean for PE and VC compensation next year is difficult to predict, although it suggests that the VC community will for once be seeing better rewards (relatively) than the PE houses. We would expect though that the industry’s focus on ensuring that the middle ranking investment roles are well rewarded (and therefore able to be retained within their current firms), will continue.
Whether these trends will affect the remuneration structures of both VC and PE portfolio companies, is another question…
If you are interested in finding out what else our 2018 Survey has to say, or are already thinking ahead to remuneration in 2019, please contact Nigel Mills or Margarita Skripina for further details.
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