Which Private Equity Firm Should You Work For?

💡 Get the #1 Private Equity recruiting course, which comes with 3-statement LBO model tests, mega fund case studies, and headhunter coverage: bit.ly/PF-PrivateEquity
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Private equity firms are some of the most attractive and competitive companies to work for. However, it can be impossible to legitimately evaluate different firms if you haven't already worked in the industry. Before you sign your offer, you should consider factors such as: fund size, industry focus, investment structure, fund performance.
Your fund size is critical because it influences the size of businesses you'll be able to work with. The industry you end up working in is going to impact the kind of exit opportunities you get. You won't have a lot of time to make your decision once you get the offer, so you should consider these factors well in advance.
** Full Blog Post: www.peakframeworks.com/post/e...
0:00 - Intro
0:49 - Fund Size (Mega Fund, Upper Middle Market?)
4:00 - Industry Focus
5:37 - Investment Structure
6:46 - Fund Performance
7:16 - Organizational Questions
Peak Frameworks is a business career prep service started by Matt Ting and Patrick Fong, who have each spent several years working in investment banking and private equity in New York and Silicon Valley. Matt and Patrick met at Evercore, a top tier investment bank, and over the years have tutored and coached dozens of candidates to land their dream business job.
Matt Ting: / matthewting
Patrick Fong (HBS 2021): / patrick-fong-0b773041
#InvestmentBanking #PrivateEquity #Careers

[@anandroy1798]

The question isn't "Which Private Equity Firm should I work for?", The question is "Which private equity firm would hire me?" loool

[@internetfather4105]

My man's a legend.

[@naokisato2900]

Keep up the great content! I appreciate your work

[@mihaidinul]

How do you have so few views? For all the people asking about the Illuminati this is legit how IB and all that shit works. I’d watch this if I wasn’t in the field to know how things work. Great job please keep at it.

[@shyi1242]

agree!

[@dhanayturakhia188]

Great work bud!!

[@Blixwers5]

Thanks for the video, very informative!

[@ymarmash]

Great work Matt!!

[@HighlightJunky]

Great videos man. Thanks!

[@Korean_Consultant]

Great video!! Insightful :)

[@somalia1859]

Could you please do a series of vids on venture capital firms? Just like you did with PE on hours, career progression, what type to work for? That would be AMAZING!

[@cchan824]

Great content and presentation. It be good if you can do a video telling us how you structure/plan on giving presentation for a topic

[@010ramez]

Really enjoying the content! Keep up the good work. Would love to know your take on how different the VC lifestyle is from IB and PE in terms of the culture, pay, hours and more.

[@PeakFrameworks]

Yes, probably warrants a full video at some point. Short of it I think is VC is better lifestyle, marginally better culture, and worse pay. Pay seems to be even more weighted towards carry, which is tough because distributions are extremely long dated. Seems overall more survivable though. You also generally have to be in the Bay Area.

[@CtrlAltDL337]

I got poached directly by the PE owner and the associate I've been working with is 24 years old. His position had 2400 applicants. It's tough but it is possible to get into PE at a young age (not referring to myself).

[@jeremyh8703]

I've only recently subscribed, but have really been enjoying watching your videos and have found them super helpful as someone entering the finance industry from college! Is there any chance you could cover differences in compensation and hours/cultre/WLB between traditional buyout shops and growth equity (at the associate+ level)? Thanks so much!

[@PeakFrameworks]

Sure, can try to add to the list. Traditional buyout is grindier for sure, but growth isn't that much better. In growth there's a lot more sourcing too, so different kind of work. I think VC is more chill, but growth is not quite there.

[@jeremyh8703]

@@PeakFrameworks Thanks so much for the response! Interesting to hear your perspective on growth; any chance you could elaborate a bit regarding compensation between the two types of firms, if there is a distinction at all? Thanks so much for considering doing a video on this btw!

[@deepikabali9199]

Thank you so much 👍🏻💝 I really wanted to make it into PE firms like I'm changing my career from financial data analysis to core numerical stock analysis and investment industry. Will this be a good option? Well I think it's a great idea but need some piece of advice from you of course hence asking!!!😀😀 Do reply. Thank you in advance 💖

[@darwinli1996]

Great content bro

[@MrHavy09]

Awesome video, I’m actually invested in KKR Public Stock. How would you say KKR compares to firms like Blackstone and Apollo?

[@bhoey27]

Great content as always. Would love to hear your thoughts on the regional, more specialized lower middle market funds. Ones raising $500M or less.

[@PeakFrameworks]

Will think about this, hard to get good data about them and I don't have any firsthand experience.

[@flannyyy8225]

Could you do some videos on Asset Management🖤

[@Diddy1298]

Love the content! One question I have the concerns Private Equity recruiting is if its feasible to lateral from a small 50 person boutique to a BB/EB/TopMM and still be able to participate in PE recruiting. Just curious on how top PE firms perceive hires that started in a smaller shop.

[@PeakFrameworks]

Hm, I'd say yes but there are probably enough people with perfect resumes that you might not get looks from the top PE firms. I would probably wait and recruit as a second or third year so you can market yourself more as someone from the BB/EB you've landed.

[@ZuhierDM]

I have graduated from 10 year ago major banking and investment managment, then I turned to my own privet and family business, now I deside to involve in IB and PE business, what is your recomendation to succesfuly involve in investment business since I have graduated 10 years ago

[@Samiarain]

You should create a database of Finance companies since a lot of students don’t really know what companies are out. If you haven’t already. Would be a great lead generator for you as well. Btw, Blackstone seems to be buying all your videos ad inventory. I keep getting their ads.

[@PeakFrameworks]

That's a great suggestion, thanks!

[@feelmehish8506]

This is so true!!

[@themillionairereview1469]

Please make a video on detailed salaries in private equity.

[@Blixwers5]

He’s already made one

[@PeakFrameworks]

We made one! kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXKvgaugjdaHaqs

[@gregb3443]

If someone wanted to hire you for financial advice would you be interested for the job question mark

[@sinkay7702]

Generally speaking I noticed here in Europe most PE analyst start after their Masters Programme; I recently got the offer to join a small PE fund directly after my Bachelor, but I don’t know if it would cut my chances of getting into more mega fund type companies? Also your content is fantastic, keep up the good work!

[@PeakFrameworks]

Yes, Europe is completely different. People start a lot later in their careers and generally need masters programs. From what I've seen, most mega fund people typically come from IB in Europe. Don't know anyone who moved from a smaller PE fund, but you should do your own research as it's not my territory.

[@sinkay7702]

Peak Frameworks thanks for the reply. I never heard or saw(LinkedIn) the Progression of Small Fund to Mega Fund. Every person I see online basically just joint these mega fund firms straight from BB IB.

[@user-wl7ok7nn2r]

Hey Matt! Always love your video Love from Seoul. I have question. I will be joining top school in 2021 October, and I have about 8 full month until enterance(my duty in Korean Army ends in Febuary 2021). I would like to get IB internship before enrolling to university. But I don't have anything more than great university entrance test score and the fact that i got in. I really want to use my gap period productively, but don't know how to get intern because my situation is quite untraditional compared to other student. Can you give me any advice of how to get IB intern? Thanks!!

[@PeakFrameworks]

Unless you have connections, I'd say it's virtually impossible to get an IB internship before you start school. Things may be different in the Korean market, so I think you should try to productively network before school starts. Reach out to all of the people from your school who went into banking and see what their advice is. Start learning valuation and having an opinion on the market.

[@SatyamSingh-yu7bc]

Nice video sir

[@whatcanisayireallylikecurr9697]

What advice would you give someone who would want to transition into PE early on in their career? I’m a senior accounting major and have been lucky to gain experience in other business related projects-big 4 internship, State and Local Tax internship, f500 business analytics intern, fintech fraud analyst and a strategy consulting intern for a local park district in my area. At this point, I know how important it is to be personable and radiate eagerness in the work that you do. However, since this isn’t accounting, don’t really know where to start or how to start. Thanks !

[@PeakFrameworks]

I would try to break into Big 4 financial advisory services out of school. Lots of people move to IB (and occasionally PE) from there.

[@whatcanisayireallylikecurr9697]

@@PeakFrameworks gotcha, I’ll def try to aim on transferring into M&A wing at the big 4 I’m interning in when I start fulltime. What kinda skills do they look for people in IB and PE-I know there’s lot of modeling involved-and how do u recommend one goes about to learning them? Thanks for your reply!

[@joshualam5646]

Thanks for the great video! I am graduating this year from undergraduate and received offers from 1) strategy consulting firm 2) ~8B Aum growth equity focused in TMT education & healthcare as an operation analyst. Both opportunities are based in APAC. What would you recommend in terms of 1) career progression 2) comps ceiling 3) work itself Thanks!!

[@PeakFrameworks]

Too many unknowns for me to really comment. Is strategy consulting with a big firm? Is operations = portfolio operations?

[@sayansarkar7759]

I got internship offers from KKR, Blackstone, Carlyle and Third Point. Could you please suggest a better pick among these four in the long-run?

[@brianwright2311]

Great firms, tough decision. Good luck! Really depends on what you would be doing there. They are all fantastic firms but some have great strengths where others are lacking. I think your set with any of those names on your resume though. I would drop Third Point though.

[@PeakFrameworks]

If this is for a private equity analyst position, you can't really go wrong. I would probably pick the place you think you have the best chance of securing a return offer at. If I had to choose, I probably pick Blackstone because they have the most sophisticated analyst program on the street. KKR's PE analyst program has been pretty on and off. I didn't even know Carlyle had an internship program. If this is for an MBA associate position, you honestly probably know more than me! But if I had to pick one of the three to be an associate at, I think I pick Carlyle. Culturally I think Carlyle is the most tolerable in the long run. I've found Blackstone and KKR to be extremely stiff and they seem almost impossible to climb the ranks. Third Point is more of a hedge fund. Still a great opportunity, but different career track.

[@yifeixu5798]

Hey Matt, thanks for the great video. I am wondering if you can share some insights on where to look for the firms' AUM. It seems that it's rather hard to have an exact up-to-date number just from google. Thanks!

[@PeakFrameworks]

There's not a lot of great free resources. You can check firm websites as a good starting point, they'll at least have their latest few funds announced via press release. I would then use Google, Crunchbase or Aum13F (aum13f.com/) for hedge funds. Pitchbook and CapIQ will have the data for sure, but those are paid.

[@the_teemo1]

can you talk about pension funds too? thanks!

[@PeakFrameworks]

Hey! Yeah we can add that to the list. Definitely a great career path, especially if you want to have a more reasonable work/life balance.

[@the_teemo1]

@@PeakFrameworks and since ur from Canada, can you talk about the difference between Canadian funds (OTPP, CPPIB) vs US ones (CALPERS, etc)? I've shared ur content with my peers and everyone seemed to love it!!

[@alyela3179]

Hey Matt, I have been trying to get some professional CV reviewing done using your site and there seems to be a problem. It has to do with agreeing with terms and conditions.

[@PeakFrameworks]

Hi Alejando, would you mind e-mailing me at [e-mail] with a screenshot of your issue? We haven't heard about this problem before. Thanks!

[@alyela3179]

@@PeakFrameworks Nevermind, my network was blocking the sight. The sight works perfectly. The terms and agreements got blocked by the ghostery add-on

[@HishamR89]

How does one get in touch with PE and investment firms? That can be a struggle at times.

[@PeakFrameworks]

Headhunters and reaching out via e-mail and LinkedIn.

[@HishamR89]

@@PeakFrameworks I should clarify that I meant reaching out for the purpose of proposing investment opportunities and collaborating.

[@khadytoure191]

i agree but if you first go to work in a smaller firm wouldnt it be eadier to work yourself to the top ?

[@PeakFrameworks]

Generally yes. But you have less of a guarantee that the small firm will succeed. You also can't generally switch from middle market to mega fund by the time you're in the middle of your career.

[@Bethlehem0BC]

Why is Berkshire in upper mid market? Is Berkshire partners a division of Berkshire Hathaway??

[@PeakFrameworks]

Berkshire Partners is not affiliated with Berkshire Hathaway. Still great investors though!

[@joshking9537]

Maybe add medical income per employee

[@SatyamSingh-yu7bc]

Namaste sir in present time I am class 11 standard students sir please help me how to go into investment banking sector .

[@pembasherpa3601]

How to get into private equity

[@pembasherpa3601]

Will private equity hire me if I have two years IB experience but I am 31 years old when I apply for private equity entry position? I am asking this because I am 25 now I may get my masters and IB experience and after it is done I guess I will be 31 WHEN APPLYING FOR PRIVATE EQUITY ENTRY LEVEL POSITION.

[@jonahweinbaum3093]

Do they offer internships?

[@jonahweinbaum3093]

?

[@manuelitopascal1925]

@@jonahweinbaum3093 I believe some PE firms hire summer analysts (ex: KKR)

[@PeakFrameworks]

A lot of the really big ones do, but it's sporadic. You also have to go to one of the top finance schools in the counntry. Some firms that hire interns: KKR, Silver Lake, Blackstone, LGP, Ares.

[@edwardkim4213]

Any one that will accept you! Hahahaha.... PE jobs are hard to come by.