An inside look at VC's gender gap in carried interest

Investment firm compensation has many components.

So, when analyzing the gender gap in how investors are paid, it's important to consider as many factors as possible. In the world of venture capital, a core element of compensation is carried interest—the share of profits from an investment that goes to GPs.

In partnering with compensation data firm J.Thelander Consulting to explore how carried interest differs between male and female VC investment professionals, a clear trend emerged: While women can often earn close to equal and even more in total cash, they often receive significantly less in carried interest.

All data in the featured charts is from the Thelander-PitchBook 2018 Investment Firm Compensation Survey.

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"It's become increasingly clear that addressing the gender imbalance in venture capital is not simply a function of hiring more women—although that's a good start," said Melissa Taunton, a partner at NEA. "We must also examine the ways in which we mentor, evaluate, promote and compensate women investors, and take measurable steps to improve our practices."

"While it's not surprising that the gender gap would be even more pronounced at the most senior levels of venture capital (reflecting where the industry was vs. where we are going), it is deeply troubling if the pattern is mirrored in the 'up-and-coming' generation of investors, particularly those hired within the last five or so years," Taunton added. 
 

In previous posts, we've explored the pay gap between male and female executives and a closer look at how much PE and VC investors make.

Check out all our past coverage here. And visit J.Thelander Consulting for more compensation information.