The salaries and bonuses of M&A professionals in Brazil | Market

The slowdown that the mergers and acquisitions market has faced in the last two years has been a barrier to the salaries and bonuses of professionals working in the M&As area. With the drop in revenue generated from transactions, the proportion of those who stopped receiving an increase in fixed remuneration reached 44% in 2023, according to the M&A Community survey, carried out by Ideals, a British company providing online services for M&As, such as document management and due diligence.

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“It was a surprising discovery”, says the company, in reference to wage stagnation. In Ideals’ view, M&A professionals faced difficult market conditions last year in Brazil, in a context in which mergers and acquisitions operations declined by 9% compared to 2022, which was also not a strong year. In total, the survey interviewed 185 professionals.

Without the same dynamism as before, the segment ended up giving greater increases to those at the base of the pyramid. Only employees who earn up to R$13,000 saw their salary grow at a rate of more than 50%, according to the survey. On average, the increase in salaries for all levels was 31%.

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In this scenario, the salary range pie practically did not change from one year to the next. The proportion of those earning between R$6,000 and R$18,000 remained at 52%, while the group of those earning from R$18,000 remained at 48%.

In relation to bonuses, professionals at the top of the pyramid were the most affected. According to the survey, among those who saw their bonus decrease in 2023, 45% had a VP position and 32% were associates.

On the other hand, they are the ones who receive the biggest bonuses. The research shows that VP bonuses vary between 60% and 255% of the fixed salary, depending on the level of seniority and the size of the company. Among analysts, the range drops to between 35% and 200%. Among members, it ranges from 40% to 255%.

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Despite having noticed a tendency towards stagnation in salaries, Ideals also noticed that there is not a high degree of dissatisfaction with how much professionals earn. Among analysts, those who are dissatisfied and somewhat satisfied total 32%, while those who are neutral represent 35%. Satisfied and highly satisfied correspond to 33%.

In the group of associates, those who are dissatisfied and somewhat satisfied reach 26%; neutrals, at 44%; and those satisfied and highly satisfied, at 30%. Among VPs, the proportions are 33%, 27% and 40%, respectively.