Australia's Private Market Surge Complicates Executive Pay Benchmarking

Private capital under management in Australia has increased by 161% over the past decade, while the number of publicly listed companies on the ASX is projected to fall to about 2,052 by 2025. This shift toward private ownership reduces the pool of disclosed executive remuneration data that boards and HR leaders traditionally rely on for benchmarking pay.

Aon Australia’s Head of Executive Remuneration & Governance, Kirsten Ross, warns that with the global rise of private equity – in the United States, private‑equity‑backed firms have grown from roughly 1,900 to 11,200 in the last 20 years – publicly available compensation data is in decline. She advises companies to validate executive pay against broader market data every two to three years, noting that the modest cost of such validation is far outweighed by the risk of attrition or governance exposure if pay decisions are poorly informed.