Stories about hefty bonuses and chunky salaries for fresh-faced bankers have been stirring up outraged headlines over the past few years. But another group of people have been quietly raking in equally large amounts without the flak – private equity executives.

Reliable figures for what buyout firms pay their junior recruits are difficult to come by, but several recruiters say that remuneration largely tracks what London's biggest investment banks are paying and is likely to increase over the next year in line with that.