Hiring at private capital firms slowed in 2024, with 23% of firms indicating they expected to hire at a slower pace this year than in 2023 up from 8% last year, and 36% hiring at a similar rate, down from 51%, according to Preqin’s most recent global private capital compensation survey.
The annual survey released Nov. 22 was conducted in May of 86 private capital firms worldwide by Ferguson Partners for Preqin.
However, when asked about future hiring for the 12 months ending in May 2025, 30% indicated no change in head count, down by 1 percentage point from 2023 and 59% expect to increase head count.
Investment or deal professionals were cited by 64% firms as most in demand, a 4-percentage-point decline from the May 2023 survey.
Twenty-three percent of firms do not plan to hire new roles but will backfill existing positions, the same as last year’s survey. Capital-raising roles were the next highest in demand, growing by 6 percentage points to 15%.
A slight majority, 51%, of private markets managers are raising larger funds than the predecessor fund, down from 59% last year, the survey also showed. Thirty-four percent had no change in fund size, up from 30% in 2023, while 14% decreased their current fund sizes, up from 11% last year.
Fewer firms had some diversity, equity and inclusion policies or initiatives in place with 48% of the firms surveyed, down from 52% in 2023, with more firms having formal DEI programs at 27% in 2024, up from 22% in 2023.
The firms’ investments or deal teams had the fewest women with an average of 20% and a mean of 23% of their entire staffs, up from a median of 17% and a mean of 21% in 2023. The team with the highest percentage of women was the investor relations and reporting team with an average of 67% and a mean of 77%, with the median down from 100% and the mean the same in 2023.
