GS Capital Partners

Hi guys,

Does anyone have the scoop on the interview process, culture, hours, or fund-specific info for someone straight out of undergrad? I have a possible connection but am unsure of how to pursue the opportunity.

Thanks

 
Best Response

My two cents: (which comes entirely from two "friends" I know who work there, so this is not firsthand, but I do trust these two guys).

1) No chance out of undergrad. They claimed it is an inverted pyramid. That is to say, lots of MDs and VPs, few associates and NO analysts. He said even most associates aren't actually considered FT PIA, but rather they are put in PIA by Goldman on a two-year rotational with no promise to let them stay there. They both said no one gets there on the investment team without two years of the best IBD. One said, "Christ couldn't get in here out of undergrad."

2) Rather than a traditional fund, where for example BX guys would obviously ONLY look at the equity side or Sankaty Advisors would ONLY look on the credit/mezz side, PIA looks at opportunities from all perspectives of the capital structure. My friend described a metals-and-mining series of deals in South America. They got excited about a few companies in the space with strong financials. They liked the equity in a few firms and decided to try a consolidation play. They liked the debt on two others, and Advent or OEP came in as an equity sponsor. It's unique (and not necessarily always good, especially because of the perceived conflict of interest and the legal minefield) to purposefully play both sides of the coin.

3) Which brings me to my third and most important insight: IT FEELS LIKE A REALLY BIG, REALLY TALENTED BANKING GROUP, not an investment group. Both my friends were outspoken about this one. For one, there is NO chance of getting involved in the day-to-day of a company and they could care less about operational improvements. It's straight-finance, modeling, banking work with higher stakes. So know that going in. Moreover, they said both the fact that they potentially looked at all levels of the capital structure for a given transaction AND the unique bureaucracy of being so intertwined with GS (as opposed to the autonomous JPM PE group, OEP), made for some shitty internal stuff to deal with that was distracting.

4) PIA and Dodd Frank. No need to go to-into-detail, obviously, but it's not gonna be the same anymore. GS Capital Partners VIII can't be raised with the MDs telling CalPERS "we're not co-invested in this, but you should trust us!" They have to either use ONLY their own $ or shut it down, but either way, it's not a good time to get INTO PIA as both my friends say many people will be forced out of the group and they themselves are leaving for KKR and a small hedge fund respectively.

5) Upside: money, access to amazingly complex and interesting deals all over the world, and the baller status of being Goldman PIA. They say that even though its not great to work for in actuality and they're both happy to leave as things will slowly wind down, they still get a boner on the elevator each day wearing a $2k suit knowing they're working GS PIA. I can't blame them.

 
apprentice7697:
My two cents: (which comes entirely from two "friends" I know who work there, so this is not firsthand, but I do trust these two guys).

1) No chance out of undergrad. They claimed it is an inverted pyramid. That is to say, lots of MDs and VPs, few associates and NO analysts. He said even most associates aren't actually considered FT PIA, but rather they are put in PIA by Goldman on a two-year rotational with no promise to let them stay there. They both said no one gets there on the investment team without two years of the best IBD. One said, "Christ couldn't get in here out of undergrad."

4) PIA and Dodd Frank. No need to go to-into-detail, obviously, but it's not gonna be the same anymore. GS Capital Partners VIII can't be raised with the MDs telling CalPERS "we're not co-invested in this, but you should trust us!" They have to either use ONLY their own $ or shut it down, but either way, it's not a good time to get INTO PIA as both my friends say many people will be forced out of the group and they themselves are leaving for KKR and a small hedge fund respectively.

Good insight dude. A few comments:

1) Not entirely true that you have to come out of a top banking group. I know someone from a structured finance role who's going to be there. Another thing to keep in mind is that PIA recruits very heavily internally at GS as part of a greater firmwide effort to retain junior talent. That way, instead of losing a kid to another PE shop, they can offer a PE position to 2nd years looking to go to the buyside.

4) Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't PIA invest out of a fund structure? If so, how does Volcker affect that? From my reading, I thought Dodd-Frank puts limits on the positions a financial institution can take using proprietary capital (ex. BS cash), not a dedicated investment fund.

 

@ alpha mail ...

1) you're right. I was talking in general when I said you got to be at the best IBD groups. I only meant to imply that its every bit as tough to recruit there as it is to recruit at BX, KKR, etc. I completely agree with your point that they use it as a carrot to retain top junior talent.

2) what an MD at One Equity Partners and a VP at PIA said to me in re Dodd Frank was as follows: PIA, like PE operations at all BB banks, must be spun off because a bank isn't allowed to be more than, i forget, i think it was 4% of any given fund. The reason something like One Equity is unaffected is OEP is ALL JP Morgan's capital, no outside investors at all, and Dodd Frank can't stop a company from buying another company. Dodd Frank CAN and DID stop Goldman from investing its own money in a $10B fund that it manages that consists mostly of outside capital. The reason it has to be spun off is, as the Goldman guy explained, "We can't raise a fund saying we're not significantly co-invested. Without skin in the game, they just won't trust us. Not with other talented money managers like Carlyle, BX, etc that can turn to."

That's all, really. But if you want to get lawyerly and cutesy with it, the Goldman guy reckoned they could just quickly raise the new fund withOUT commitments from goldman partners and simply promise investors: "any given investment will still have the right co-invest make-up so we have skin in the game, too. We'll just stretch GSCP VII ... have Goldman Sachs itself write part of a check, have GS CP VII write part of the check, and have GS CP VIII write yet another part of the check. So the FUND wouldn't break Dood-Frank's rule, even if each investment is structured in such a way as to get around it. Don't have a JD, so I don't know how viable this is. He was just thinking out loud ...

 

So you're saying that banks can continue to make PE investments by acting as if they were building a conglomerate? As far as I know the Volcker rule will prohibit that.

I spoke with one of the London PIA people and he agreed that that there is a certain chance that the division will be spun out. It should become more clear within the next 6-9 months or so. The big question is if this would hurt them.

As far as I understood him compensation for investment professionals would probably improve so they might get even better people. They could also participate in more deals because there will be less conflict-of-interest situations.

On the downside, investors might lose confidence and withdraw funds. And they would lose all the internal resources they have access to right now.

 

Does PIA have offices outside of NYC and London? I know GS has made some PE investments in China--is that under this group?

Also, considering that PEI ranks GS as the second largest PE fund, why is it that you rarely hear about them making investments (on dealbook, wsj, etc.)?

 

Yeah, they're trig. Not at all easy to get into directly from undergrad, however. The usual path of someone working for GS Capital Partners is through the investment bank or GSAM... though I don't know where they get their analysts from.

Good luck if you're going to try it. I got nothing but respect for those guys.

 

Eos sunt quam odit ad. Eligendi in odit quo tenetur vel aut itaque corrupti. Quae quos et molestiae est sit quia dolores. Commodi expedita laborum rerum est ab eum eum.

Sed et nihil ut. Incidunt repellat eos et adipisci. Illo expedita veritatis dolor omnis impedit dignissimos. Commodi alias eaque quam voluptatibus eos quis fuga. Est sed dolor voluptates sed reprehenderit quasi voluptas commodi. Dolorem numquam et quis et architecto vitae doloremque.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Warburg Pincus 99.0%
  • Blackstone Group 98.4%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 97.9%
  • Bain Capital 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.4%
  • Ardian 97.9%
  • Bain Capital 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.5%
  • Bain Capital 99.0%
  • Blackstone Group 98.4%
  • Warburg Pincus 97.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (21) $586
  • Vice President (92) $362
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (89) $280
  • 2nd Year Associate (204) $268
  • 1st Year Associate (386) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (28) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (83) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (246) $122
  • Intern/Summer Associate (32) $82
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (313) $59
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”