fully agreed, this is a bit of a pain. Currently side-chain inputs are only delay-compensated on HDX systems.
there are a few threads on the idea scale about it, this has the highest vote count (still only 96).
http://protools.ideascale.com/a/dtd/...a-tab-comments
in case it help anyone,
my workaround with this is to duplicate whatever i want to send to a sidechain (typically a kick drum) and put in on a track with no latency inducing plugins, which i send from a pre fader send, then i can mute the track and hide it.
Then on tracks i want to use the sidechain compression on, i either use all zero latency plugs, or put the sidechained comp first in the processing chain (not usually ideal) or first commit the processing before using the sidechain compression. This keeps the side chain input in time. BUT, it would be much nicer for it to be taken care of behind the scenes like most other DAWs, and would allow a lot more creative freedom. I for one would utilize more sidechain compression techniques if it was delay comped but i'm not going to buy a hdx system fro the privilege when my native setup with HD software handles most everything else really well.