Doctors in Private Equity
How sought after are doctors in private equity these days given the current attractiveness of aspects of healthcare to PE? I am currently a resident at a top NYC hospital with excellent publications, will be getting board certified in the next year, and ultimately interested in practicing medicine 3-4 days a month with my primary job in healthcare finance. I have prior experience with financial modeling and bioscience consulting, though no formal work experience in IB or consulting. Is it worth it to do a gig in consulting at a big 3 then try to segway into PE or are there opportunities without that formal background? How valuable is an MBA in attempting to enter PE as a board certified MD?
Can you elaborate on the "excellent publications?" There are a few doctors who have lateralled into PE, though it is definitely not a tried-and-true path like the traditional 2 years of analyst work at a bulge bracket investment banked -> private equity. You also mention you are looking to get board certified in the next year - may I ask what your speciality is?
The people I have met (and there is very, very few of them, I only know two people, in fact) in private equity from medicine backgrounds actually came from the MD/Phd route as opposed to just a straight-up MD - so the focus, as I'm sure you are well aware, is less on practicing medicine and more on medical research.
With that said, there is definitely a precedence for this. Touching on your last question, I know plenty of people who have gotten an MBA in addition to their MD (though the people I know who have done this did so while they were still enrolled in medical school, e.g. doing a joint program, I also know someone who did a two-year MBA program in between their third and fourth year of med school. Since you have already started your residency, I assume you are already out of med school, so it may or may not be helpful to get some work experience first before going back for an MBA). For consulting, I am less knowledgable, so perhaps someone else can comment on this, but I have certainly seen a few consultants in the big 3 who came from a medicine background so it is definitely one possible option for you.
LOL
Solid response bro.
But to the rest of you, thanks for the actually informative replies. This is just a casual inquiry. I've done alot of work on healthcare systems with the CMO level and also have alot of experience with healthcare data analytics. I'm trying to guage general interest in MDs and understand that PE is dominated primarily by finance backgrounds. From the folks I've spoken to that ended up in finance, it is just a matter of finding a mentor that is willing to take you in.
How sought after are doctors in PE? Not sought after.
How valuable is an MBA in attempting to enter PE as a MD? Not that valuable.
Healthcare PE has the occasional doctor, but it's usually a bunch of ex-bankers and some ex-consultants with investing and/or healthcare industry experience.
And getting in after MBA is extremely hard these days - usually you need some PE experience before hand.
http://www.orbimed.com/en/our-team/private-equity
more common to see docs in vc. at least in my experience
This. Had a healthcare phd student and a MD get the VC jobs I applied to before me in venture capital
Had a principal at an lbo shop I used to be at who was a doctor. He was a practicing m.d. and had previously spent a few years working for deloitte. Guy started the shop w a managing director from a mm lbo shop. Guy had a lot of connections to call on, and we specialized partly in healthcare because of his experience. So it does happen. Dont listen to the college kids on here who dont know what theyre talking about. Hed also done an mba at a non target (not even top 15), so he probably got something out of it, but not more than he did from consulting.
http://www.platinumequity.com/leadership/dave-aroesty
http://www.dwhp.com/?a=bioshort_jay
There have been a lot of healthcare people starting threads in the past months looking to transition, but have you ever thought to strive to be CFO of your system? Or, maybe doing PE stuff in between is still a solid path to CFO?
The salary of healthcare execs can be pretty damn good - the CFO of one of the systems that is our current client made $1.14 million in 2011. CEO's pull in similar salaries, ranging 300k-4MM
For anyone curious, you can find salary info of the highest paid employees of non-profits from their 990's. Guidestar.org - free to register and download forms from past years.
Edit: Form 990, Schedule J, Part II
I don't recommend you ride a segway to your PE job. You will be laughed at.
i lold
LOL
i did it. PM me.
WSO isn't a place for getting advice for those off the beaten track
Private Equity interest from a Physician background (Originally Posted: 09/26/2016)
Hi All, This is going to sound unrealistic..but here goes.. I am an older surgeon (50 yo) who is interested in Private Equity/Hedge funds (involved in hospitals, clinics etc). Have an EMBA from a top 5 school. How would I combine my interested in PE/Hedge funds with my background and current life-stage. Would like experience in the field and brush up on my MBA knowledge...thoughts? Thank you, Ron
You could try to land a gig as an operating partner at a healthcare focused PE fund. You could probably do it while still seeing patients. You'd provide technical advice to the partners on new investments and could serve on boards. I've seen a few doctors do this.
Hedge funds often hire guys with MD degrees to do healthcare investing but I've mostly seen younger guys do it. Some didn't even do residency. The issue with this route is that you need to learn the bitch work young and learn all the ins and outs of the business over the course of years. At 50, you'd be asked to update earnings models by someone 20 years younger than you.
I'd say that at 50, it is probably late to be entering - I rarely even see a PM that age at a hedge fund, let alone someone starting out. There are a million tiny PE fund and hedge funds out there though and if you cold email them or network, you might find someone who needs some help.
I'd also tell you that hedge funds are a significantly more volatile path than being a surgeon. You've already put in the years of schooling so why leave? I'd just keep cashing checks and maybe learn investing on the side. It is not uncommon for people to get fired at a HF because of fund underperformance. Some top hedge funds have shut down. And PE is extremely difficult to move up the ranks (and an investment role would be tough to get unless you can convince a small startup fund or something)
ErgotFreeway,
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
'You could try to land a gig as an operating partner at a healthcare focused PE fund. You could probably do it while still seeing patients. You'd provide technical advice to the partners on new investments and could serve on boards. I've seen a few doctors do this.' I think I like this idea..
Hedge funds and MD guys..I really dont mind doing the scut work ordered by someone 20 yrs younger..dont have an ego, have a fairly egalitarian structure where I am 'the first among equals'.
Why leave surgery or do other things as well?..I really dont know for sure but I think I want to see if I can be successful at what I consider to be a more challenging area (PE/HF).
If I could trouble you with another question? --I dont feel my knowledge of finance (from my MBA) is deep enough to make safe/accurate decisions etc. Would it be useful for me to get a Masters in Finance or read the CFA curriculum for this gap that I think I have?
Thank you again.
Having considered Medicine myself (and turned from the path) I understand the downgrade in life quality which has occurred in Medicine. As you sound as if you are interested in the evolving med-tech side, why not use your existing network to identify firms local to you. You need to leverage your relationships. I second the operating partner idea, but you might also consider some sort of unorthodox role. If you have the right relationships you might find an opportunity as a consultant/advisor helping evaluate opportunities from an industry perspective. You might even try to find somewhere you could be a limited partner but have a n unusual observer role. ( you would probably need a really strong personal relationship to pull this off) rereading your question.. the simple way to combine your interest and knowledge is a LP role, but if you want to affect the investments (i.e. how the companies or fund is run) that wont work.
AAROne, Thank you for your reply. I still love medicine Its more that I am looking to engage what I think is more a challenging field and quite an interesting one, to me at this point. I do want to affect investments so I agree with you that an operations role would fit my objectives. I am intrigued by the possibility of an 'unorthodox' role... As I asked ErgorFreeway as well, what do you think is the best way for me to deepen my finance knowledge beyond MBA--Master Fin/CFA/or not needed, for these types of roles?
Start your own RIA. Launch your own hedge fund. Do both. Leverage your relationships with other physicians to grow AUM. Implement your own strategy. All while not putting your current career at risk.
I don't know you, but I think any other route has to be a very niche position. What would you bring to the table?
Your easiest path may be to get into the administrative side of your system and then move up the ladder. A lot of the big hospital systems are aggressively acquiring private practices right now. Get some deal exposure on the corporate side and then make a jump later.
Few PE funds would let a junior guy practice part time (unless you want to pull nights in the ER, while working during the day) because they need you available. I know a couple of C-level hospital execs that still practice on a limited basis.
I'm a former banker and now have a mHealth startup. I would be happy to talk to you offline. Feel free to PM me.
Healthcare Private Equity; is a medical degree necessary? (Originally Posted: 12/06/2015)
All input is appreciated.
If I were to become an investment banking analyst in a healthcare group...would it be possible to make the jump to PE associate without a medical degree?
Is a medical degree necessary (or helpful) with moving up the ladder in healthcare PE?
I realize that for venture capital it would be necessary to a greater extent than it would be in large scale PE.
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