Assertion certainty 4/5 debate potential 3/5

Kim: Junior IR professionals out-earn deal peers; IR partners earn less

John Kim (Kimmer) · Fundraising Mastery: The Tao of Kimmer – John Kim (EP.503) · May 25, 2026 · at 1:02:33

Fundraising veteran John Kim describes relative compensation dynamics between investor relations staff and investment professionals across seniority levels.

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“So what's kind of interesting is that the younger you are in their career, actually the more money you make relative to your peers because the younger professional gets to do some of the selling. Occasionally actually gets to advise the GP because you're traveling with them all the time. So that's generally get paid a little more. Then they move into the vice president's role and they get paid the same. Then they move to the partner's role and they actually get paid less than other partners because you're doing this other thing. I've described 90%, if not 99%, of the investor relations industry.”

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