The review tracks compensation and hiring patterns across private capital firms. Investment teams remain the most in-demand hire, though demand fell from 64 percent to 59 percent of firms citing them as a top hiring priority year over year. Most firms report base salary increases of up to 10 percent and expect increases to stay in that range through 2026. Just over half of firms report using AI, with adoption concentrated in deals teams rather than firm-wide. On office policy, opinion is split evenly: 27 percent of firms expect staff in five days a week and an equal 27 percent expect three days a week, suggesting hybrid arrangements have settled into a stable norm rather than continuing to shift toward either extreme.

Compensation benchmarking is a recurring need for private capital firms setting pay bands, and for professionals evaluating offers or negotiating raises. The report is useful for HR and talent teams at PE, VC, and private credit firms tracking where hiring demand and salary growth are heading, and for LPs or GPs assessing whether firms' AI adoption and office policies are converging on industry norms.