Ardea Partners in 2021
Is anyone familiar with this firm? Would love any insight into culture / junior-level comp / exits (understand that PE may be an uphill battle). Thanks in advance!
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They're in the process of starting a PE fund of their own (transitioning to a merchant banking model). Comp is above street and once the fund is set up junior employees will get free co-invest (not sure how much).
PE exits are unknown because the firm is so new and they've only hired laterals, so no information on A1 exits.
Thanks, very helpful.
could you talk more about the PE fund? have any info on fund size or mandate?
They don’t have a dedicated fund, they have relationships with family offices and sovereign wealth funds which is how they fund their deals. Well, one deal - they’ve only done one deal so far as a merchant bank
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Anyone?
Had first round with them recently. Did not go well.
Internship? Why not? Was it difficult
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Had a 1st round ~2 weeks ago
any info on Ardea in London?
For what it’s worth, I met Ivan Ross a few times in college because I was in the same fraternity as his oldest son I think. Very nice man. I think he also was in the same fraternity maybe around the same time as a bunch of big hedge fund/PE people like Greenblatt and Stevie Cohen. Am friendly with two of his sons and think highly of them as solid bankers/financial/investment professionals so would think Ivan and the people at Ardea are all great. I think I was scheduled to interview with the staffer there but maybe she had to cancel or something. Not sure. Seems like great place to work but would guess culture is very similar to Goldman Sachs just instead of working out of 200 west it’s wherever that firm has an office. Just a guess though. I hope this helps. Good luck
also seems like they have been big in advising on insurance M&A. Mainly the PC space if I’m not mistaken but could very well be very off on this
Did anyone receive an update on their app?
Thought I'd add a little more color since this has been bumped up.
I interviewed for a lateral associate position here, which was their entry-level at the time, from a mid-tier BB (think BAML/Citi/CS) a little more than a year ago. I ultimately got the offer but turned it down because I didn't want to start a new role during COVID, which ended up happening anyway...
Every single person I met at Ardea was clearly smarter than the majority of the people on my BB team. I wouldn't say the technicals were painfully rigorous, but they were thorough and comparable to an average difficultly buy-side interview. The people were friendly and normal. It seemed like they worked hard but weren't super sweaty.
Lean deal teams, a high degree of autonomy, and limited pitching were some of the selling points that I valued. Compensation was well above street and most post-IB associate roles on the buy-side. They made it clear that attrition was not an issue.
They didn't have analysts at the time so I can't speak to exit opps.
Hey thanks for the color. Anyway you could share what the technicals are like or what about the modeling test that’ll be great. Also planning to lateral from a mid tier bank as a second year so that will be much appreciated
It has been a couple of years now, so a bit foggy. There was a take-home templated three statement operating model and a couple rounds of technical interviews (think basic + advanced BIWS questions)
anyone hear back after first round?
negative
nope
Does anyone know whether you can still apply?
Anyone has insight whether or not they're a sweatshop?
Not a sweatshop but you do work hard due to how lean the teams are. Very strong culture
Does anyone have comp estimates / hard figures for Analyst/Associate level? I understand it's above street but any further clarity would be appreciated.
Is it me or did people sound arrogant af? I felt like I was talking to mini GS ( which makes sense since they all came from there)
Yep. Did not like the vibes I got. They were indirectly speaking to their culture in ways you can imagine. Not a way to recruit people to a team
the guy I interviewed with was super arrogant and showed negative emotion. Every answer was on to the next question. No connection at all and seemed like it was a burden to him that he was on the phone with me. Be prepared for super technicals on the first round, maybe 1 behavioral.
Anyone receive a process update?
anyone get second interview? insight? interested in how their process works
Can provide some info on comp.
In London Analysts and interns get £75k as base. GS/MS/JPM pays 70. Way more than the average. To clarify, HSBC pays £60k (post raise, before was 42 I think...)
Comp is well above street. Have a contact who works here.
Do you have an estimate for associate comp?
Reputationally: heard that the ex-Evercore partner in Ardea was a badass. Secondhand, heard he'd do 1 big deal a year, chill, then rinse and repeat. Don't really have any details but given their senior leadership's backgrounds, would expect culture to be similar to GS
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