Strategy and Corporate Development Compensation Guide 2024

We’ve been publishing the annual Strategy and Corporate Development Compensation Guide since 2019, providing our expert insights to review previous and ongoing trends, and using the benefit of our experience to look forward to the year ahead. Request your copy of the report here.

New challenges

With an uncertain outlook for the global economy and a rise in geopolitical risks over the recent 18 months, the environment has been a challenging one – though with slowly renewing optimism – for professionals seeking Strategy and Corporate Development roles. Banks and consulting firms have been making cuts leading to a greater supply of talent in the market, and companies have been much more cautious with their immediate growth plans. Deal activity was significantly lower in 2023 than in the year prior, particularly from a large-cap private equity perspective. With fewer new investments, there have been fewer opportunities for senior strategy and M&A professionals looking for roles. In contrast, deal flow in the mid-market held up better, and most of our senior placements over the past 12 months have been in smaller businesses backed by private equity.

A sweet spot for hiring

As a result, it’s been a great time for companies to hire, with a relatively large pool of talent from which to choose. Against a backdrop of more candidates and fewer opportunities, compensation has been largely flat (or marginally up). This situation contrasts with our compensation surveys from 2022 and 2023 when candidates could often expect significant
increases when moving firms. We believe this sweet spot for hiring will not last much longer.

Our experience of working through several hiring cycles suggests firms will soon begin to increase headcount following last year’s substantial layoffs. As the number of vacant roles increases, the balance is likely to shift back in favour of candidates seeking those positions and compensation levels are likely to increase as a result.

Gain an in-depth understanding of the varying total compensation figures paid out across the sector and what you could be earning elsewhere. Request your copy of the report here.