Hey guys, recently got two FoF offers from StepStone and AlpInvest. Both cover APAC region. Any thoughts on these two comps in terms of culture, team dynamics, deal exposure, career development, etc.?
Sincerely appreciate anyone’s contribution here. May your work/life balance be consistently better!
| +247 | I should have been a marketing girly (a rant) | 81 | 8h | |
| +113 | PE Firms with Gentrification Strategy | 34 | 1d | |
| +71 | WORST/UGLY sides of a career in PE??? | 27 | 10h | |
| +54 | Vista vs Thoma Bravo | 19 | 2s | |
| +52 | Is HBS / Wharton MBA / Stanford GSB worth it? | 23 | 1d | |
| +44 | The Morality of PE | 11 | 1d | |
| +31 | Burnt Out 2nd Year Analyst Dreading Move to PE | 2 | 1d | |
| +28 | Is PE a career for the uninspired, unambitious, and untalented? | 8 | 45m | |
| +28 | What is Synthetic PIK??? | 29 | 56m | |
| +25 | I discovered my personal boundaries | 10 | 1d |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
Also from what I know, StepStone has a fairly flexible exposure with opportunities to do primaries, secondaries and co-investments. But for Alpinvest, it would be solely primaries.
In terms of compensation, Alpinvest is 20% higher than StepStone pre-tax.
Thanks a lot guys!
If the role at AlpInvest is just primary whereas in StepStone, you get exposure to all 3, I would go for StepStone as you will gain a broader skillset.
Thanks! Guess I shouldn’t zoom in comp numbers too soon for now…
bump
Anyone? Thanks!
-
Thanks. So it’s like hierarchical / bad work-life balance etc.?
Have heard the same. Very hierarchal and layered. Work life balance isn't great either.
Thank you both, which office have you heard about?
Stepstone’s geographical coverage is strongest in the US, then Europe. In Asia Pacific, they seem to mainly be China focused. Their recent acquisition of Greenspring should improve the VC part of their coverage.
Do you know if you will work on a specific strategy (primary, co-invest etc) or will you be generalist?
Their culture seems pretty good.
Hi Franco, thanks for the info. I will be a generalist with flexibility across primaries, co-invest, and secondaries at StepStone. At Alpinvest, I will be with their primary fund investment team. AlpInvest’s Asia head of primary fund & secondaries promised to give me some exposure on secondaries, she also told me it would be unlikely to have additional bandwidth for secondaries work….
Stepstone will give you broader exposure then and perhaps you can specialize later. I think getting co-invest exposure is pretty important if you want to preserve some optionality for a direct role (still a stretch but not as much as a stretch with no co-invest).
Do you have sense for timing of career progression and how comp changes as you move up? I assume carry allocation isn’t until you are a few levels up the chain?
Hey Franco, this is actually another dilemma. At StepStone, you will be eligible for global carried interest starting from VP and I need another 5 years to get there. At Alpinvest, you will be eligible for carry from senior associate, which takes 3-4 years. Not sure about the carry amount at StepStone (rumor says that a VP gets first year carry at 20k post tax). AlpInvest told me it’s gonna be 800k-1mil for senior asso, 80% vestable after 4 years of having the eligibility. VP would be 1.5-2mil, Principal even higher.
are you intentionally misleading people? Their HQ and primary presence is in Europe, they are just beginning their push into US markets.
What is your source? SS was founded in the US, HQ in the US and listed on NASDAQ. You can verify this for yourself.
curious as to what comp / work life balance would be at either of these funds.
Hi, I am in the middle of the interview for AlpInvest Primary Fund Team. Can I reach out to you for some information? Looking forward to your reply :)
Bumping. Thoughts on Stepstone’s private debt team? Culture? Comp? Carry?
20% is nothing to sneeze at.
I think in your particular case considering outside advice isn’t helpful.
I think you need to focus on the team members you met through your interview process and determine which team would be best for you in terms of meshing, mentor ship and work life balance. I know it’s hard because everyone seems nice when they are recruiting you, but follow your gut.
Also, if you’re leaning towards step stone, be honest with them and say you’re my first choice but another competitor also has given me a higher offer. I’m still leaning towards you, but if you could close the gap it would be much appreciated.
My professor once said the best times to negotiate pay bumps are when joining a new firm. I know it’s a super uncomfortable conversation to have, and I hated doing it, but it’s always worked out for me.
Omnis dignissimos nisi in debitis qui aliquid. Corrupti temporibus aliquam quis est voluptates voluptate quas. Quis quis repudiandae cupiditate optio sit.
Autem rem voluptatum sunt repellendus. Quia rerum et quo. Ad alias laudantium omnis rerum quis unde. Qui qui quia tenetur doloremque aut. Vitae explicabo quasi molestiae vero at porro. Eos ea qui officia sed amet.
Officia magnam est sed nihil incidunt. Enim a quae voluptas atque sed deserunt officia.
Rerum qui commodi dolore consequatur. Incidunt quo consequatur quam aliquam. Id et ea ut.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Optio voluptatem voluptatem laudantium sunt. Omnis excepturi excepturi mollitia non quia laboriosam laudantium. Distinctio ab commodi qui esse distinctio quo doloribus dicta.
Numquam atque et sit magnam eaque accusantium consequatur. Vel aliquam consequatur voluptas earum nihil amet recusandae delectus. Molestiae inventore consectetur numquam nesciunt aliquam inventore. Eaque beatae sint vel labore voluptatibus ratione. Deserunt consectetur fugiat et minima earum.
Consequatur dolorum unde quidem occaecati ducimus voluptas. Voluptates voluptate est quibusdam harum cumque maxime. Beatae doloribus beatae repellendus. Quae eligendi est sunt delectus quaerat minus fuga.
Dolores necessitatibus a rerum. Impedit molestiae quos ipsam atque ducimus ipsum.