Exit opportunities for a firm like Hamilton Lane?

haha nice, congrats. you should take it, looks like a lot of the skills u'll be learning within the program are transferrable to other buy-side shops... a friend got an offer for HK so thats what im hearing

I disagree with the above. It's a good opportunity but make sure you're fine with a fund of funds platform. Also it depends which group you are in. Most people like the lifestyle and less stress environment. However, it's seen as a good place to end a career, not begin one. Very hard for FoF platforms to get into direct shops later on but this depends on which group you are in.

Hopefully you get into the co-invest group.

What do typical performance bonus numbers look like for a first year analyst?

Lower - shoot me a PM if you want to know any specifics regarding comp.

Is your shop in NY? Might explain the higher bonus.

Any other input, WSO? Anybody here have experience working for or with HL? PM me if you'd rather not post.

If your goal is banking or PE, you'd be better off in a banking type of role. If this is your only offer then take it, but the skills you learn aren't generally applicable to PE (despite HL's sales pitch to potential hires) and anyone in PE will echo my sentiment.

Agreed with craig. Great lifestyle/hours but don't expect the same level of valuation at direct shops. As long as you don't have that expectation you will be fine.

Thanks for the input. It is the only offer I have - got invited to a regional boutique's superday but it's well after this offer explodes so I don't want to risk it.

This analyst program is new so I'm hoping it teaches more applicable skills than in the past.

Agree with above. Will be a hard sell to PE firms, but the FoF career path is really solid. I have met a few ex-IB analysts who moved to PE FoF, and they really enjoy it. Comp is only slightly below IB in a major city, hours are low, and you have good job security. The downside is the relative lack of exit opportunities - from what I understand, the only clear exits are to similar roles at endowments/insurance cos.

Not a bad gig at all, but as others have stated, transferring to a direct investing role won't be easy. Even if you are placed into their co-invest platform, the level of diligence, modelling, etc. you do co-investing alongside the fund manager as an LP (which is what Hamilton Lane is as a FoF) is nowhere close to as involved as what the GP is doing. That said, you will get good exposure, far better hours, and won't be completely shit out of luck when it comes to exit opps. Endowments, family offices, and pension plans are the most common, but I think secondary shops aren't out of the realm of possibility (especially guys that do LP secondaries), such as Lexington and Harbourvest.

Thanks guys, this is helping me feel better about my decision. Can anyone offer insight to how comp generally scales in the FoF career path? Either staying with FoFs, secondaries shops like Lexington, or going over to pensions/endowments?

Still going to try to network my way into MM PE, VC, or even banking from this opportunity though. I figure with a lot of exposure to GPs there's at least a slim chance.