Ares ACOF vs BB vs EB top group
Hi, I am a current sophomore at a target and am lucky enough to be in final round processes with Ares ACOF, BB and a top group at an EB. I'm fairly certain I want to do PE long term but am not sure whether the two years of banking are worth it. I'm also not sure how to think about Ares ACOF since its obviously a great platform but have heard mixed things about the fund performance. In terms of the BB vs EB, the BB is generalist with group placement later and the EB would be tech focused, which goes back to the classic argument of BB vs EB and product vs coverage. Would love advice there as well
So Ares ACOF vs Evercore MP Tech vs JPM NY
Ares ACOF is extremely sweaty, heard another SA last year had more than a few nights where he’d get home at 5-6am. Lots of other threads have also called Ares PE a dumpster fire
Whats the point lol, just sleep in the office if it's that late
The two years of banking are invaluable for a longer career in banking. Even if you are 100% set on the type of PE you are going into (hard to truly know as a sophomore in college without doing the work, but for the sake of this thought experiment let's assume true), banking at a top firm provides 1) stronger and more standardized finance training as these firms are viewed as the gold standard for training across the street and have been doing it forever as opposed to PE programs which oftentimes have weaker/less formalized training, and 2) a network of juniors who will also go on to mostly do other things in finance that you'll work with/have camaraderie with that you can always reach back out to either for deals or work. For example, a lot of my analyst friends from back in the day will probably become my clients in the future as a decent number of them are either in the senior manager at corp dev or Principal/senior VP in PE seats. The two goals of any first job should be learning and longer-run networking, both of which an elite IB place beats out an elite PE place in imo.
Will agree I am somewhat biased as someone else in IB; but another thing to consider is that quite a few people, including myself, went into IB thinking they'd do 2 years and wanted to stay b/c we enjoyed the work/thought we are more interested in selling than investing. PE sounds appealing to everyone as a prospect, but maybe you'll change your mind on the job.
would do banking - PE analyst programs incl ares are not that structured so your training / experience is very varied based on who you work for (also ares pe is not doing well and struggling to raise)
more consistency in banking training program and you'll still have the same options of trying for other pe roles
ACOF analyst program has been around for a while so training and experience unlikely to be an issue. The bigger issue is ACOF itself and it has actually laid off people including analysts in recent years due to fundraising issues
Do you know how many people they laid off / around when those were?
are acof supers out?
Disagree with the other commenters - you're someone that already thinks they want to do PE + the alternatives are joining top banking groups where you will have peer pressure to do PE after banking. Odds are if you take the BB / EB offer, you will end up recruiting for and doing PE after banking. Under that presumption, Ares / UMM in general is an above average outcome for pretty much any banking group. Even kids from the tippy top banks / groups strike out at MF / UMM. You should take this opportunity while you have it (if you get it).
Also the people saying banking is better training or whatever aren't really right. Most of the UMM / MF analyst programs, including Ares, have been around for decades. They have institutionalized training practices that teach you the same exact skills as any banking program. Sure you could have a bigger analyst class if you go to a BB (not like you'll be friends with all of them anyway) and maybeeee that creates some sort of networking benefit 20 years down the road, but that's a pretty speculative reason to take a job offer and the class sizes at Ares / other big PE analyst programs is likely just as big as for a regional tech office at an EB.
Super helpful - I was wondering how difficult is it to place at somewhere like Ares from a top group? Also, know that this is more of a personal question, but if I'm not the biggest fan of LA, would you say Ares is 'worth it'?
There are other threads on here with placement / exits from lots of banks / groups that you can find. Most of them point to the conclusion that walking away from a UMM offer doesn't make a lot of since (its asymmetric: there are a handful of funds that may be marginally 'better' than Ares but there are a ton of funds that are a lot worse / smaller). Most of the top MFs also hire heavily from a handful of their preferred feeder groups and recruiting is way more of a connection game than most people think. If there are ~150 banking groups across all reputable BB / EBs then the top 50 or so would be considered "top" groups, but 75%+ of the associate class at BX, Apollo, H&F, KKR will come from 10 groups at GS / MS / EVR / PJT (and even within those groups, mostly only picking kids from certain school / clubs).
If you want to bet on yourself to trade up, then go for it - only you can know how competitive you think your profile will be and its possible that you end up happier / better off.
On location front, only you can answer if its worth it - for some people its a great opportunity they can't pass up on, others may decide they'd rather live with their friends in NY - purely personal.
If I were in your position, I’d think twice before taking that ACOF offer. I work in PE in LA (did two years at a BB/EB in NYC), and from everything I’ve seen and heard, that group has serious red flags—both in terms of culture and performance.
While UMM PE is generally a solid outcome from banking, it’s not as simple as just landing any associate role. ACOF, in particular, has a reputation for poor culture (high partner turnover, weak internal morale) and lackluster fund performance, which could make for a rough experience. Instead of working on exciting new buyouts, you’ll likely be stuck dealing with struggling portfolio companies, with little exposure to real, high-quality live deals. Lateral associate spots are more rare and typically you'll probably strike out with a lot of the NYC based HH coming from LA without good deal experience.
On the other hand, if you’re currently at a top BB/EB group, even with the mess that is on-cycle, staying in banking keeps the door open for dozens of top UMM/MF opportunities—not just the usual 'top' MF KKR/BX, but firms like Advent, Genstar, and Veritas (though Veritas has its own bad rep on culture). Once you’re at Ares, you lose that optionality, and breaking into a 'stronger' fund later will be significantly harder. Something to think about, Ares certainly won't be the last PE shop you work in, so why rush
In my opinion, this is an outdated take - agree that returns at Ares have been poor and will take your word on culture, but in the modern PE landscape, 90% of associates who work at UMM / MF will not get promoted and will go to business school or a hedge fund or lateral. If you accept that you almost certainly will be recruiting no matter where you go and hours / culture suck at most big shops, then bad returns and culture don't really matter to an analyst / associate over a two year program, but the guarantee of the UMM Ares brand name does.
Once you are recruiting, the Ares brand carries enough weight to get you interviews anywhere - the two top MF PE shops you mention (BX / KKR) both have hired post MBA career track staff with pre-MBA experience at non MFs (Providence, MDP, etc.). You're not going to get shut out of VP / Principal interview processes anywhere because you worked at Ares, so why gamble ending up at a MM / LMM fund? On the hedge fund side as well, they've placed people at top long short and activist hedge funds on the west and east coast.
Not seeing a lot of upside to walking away from the ACOF offer. With how early on cycle goes nowadays its not even like you're getting more time to network and learn more about different PE funds and find a good fit - you'll just end up interviewing at whichever random big name fund schedules your interview first because that's just how on cycle goes.
Fwiw I was just promoted to VP a few months ago and went through the lateral sr associate mess in a tough lateral market, so I’d say my perspective is pretty relevant here.
I get your point about on-cycle being a chaotic process where you end up interviewing at whichever big-name fund calls first. That’s a fair take, and ultimately comes down to how confident OP is in managing the process. That said, I’d still argue that if you’re in a top BB/EB group, you have a real shot at landing somewhere better than Ares, with similar (if not better) culture—Apollo being the obvious exception lol.
Worst case? You miss out on the first on-cycle wave, but you’ll still have plenty of strong UMM/MM options through the later on-cycle process or off-cycle recruiting, where you actually get to vet culture and fit a bit more. The risk of holding out is far lower than locking yourself into a fund with bad returns and a tough culture for two years, then having to navigate off cycle recruiting with slightly less flexibility.
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