Anyone have more recent opinions on this firm? They appear to be huge (18B raised recently according to PEI) and show up in the press quite a bit, but haven't seen many opinions on this board
Thanks for the thoughts...
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EDIT: wrote they're mostly a fund of funds which i don't think is true. i confused them with harbourvest for a second
anyone?
Excellent firm in Europe - huge firepower and good returns... Outside of Europe - I don't know... Definitely better economics than most firms with big brand names...
Huge in Europe, not so much in the US.
Like boochin, I'm also curious: why do these guys fly under the radar so much? Any indication if their returns are good or substandard? Any indication as to culture (business formal, business casual, lifestyle like Audax or Lone Star)?
They fly under the radar of someone based out of the US the same way Apax, Advent, Permira, 3i fly fly under the radar. They are very large in the regions where they are focused in.
If you're not London/Europe-based, not sure why they would be on your radar. If you're London-based and it still flies under your radar, thats probably they result of your radar.
Do they organize/separate their deal teams by geography? Like Bain Cap's NAPE would rarely look at a Western Europeean buyout?
Reason I ask: these guys were founded in Boston. If I joined the deal team there, would I potentially work on international deals? Or would the investment professionals in North America stick to North America and that's it?
Short answer is they are generally pretty separated geographically and you should expect to mostly do domestic deals from the U.S. office.
The exceptions where I saw their teams crossover is if a deal in one geography overlapped with or was benefiting from similar drivers as a deal that was done in another geography (e.g. you bought a payments company in the U.S. and now a similar payments company in Europe is coming up for sale). But even then your work is mostly in the background (i.e. helping the EU deal team get up to speed by sharing your work) than it is interface with the target company.
I have a buddy who's an associate there. From what he says comp is almost as good as other mega-funds; hours about the same, maybe a little bit better.
they have a big presence worldwide, but their hq are in boston, so comments on their huge presence abroad seem a bit counterintuitive, even if correct.. anyone have else have thoughts on returns, comp structure, lifestyle?
Not as strong in the U.S. as Europe. Their best deals are mostly international and the talent is better in the Euro offices.
Not sure about the US, but strong name in EU, with a focus on upper mid market. Have a friend there who seems very happy. Comp is not as high as the megas, but reasonably good, and lifestyle, atleast in London is supposedly good. Out by 8 if not live on deals etc. However, they are high on juniors sourcing deals so a good chunk of cold calling. Perhaps a bit of "eat what you kill" scenario. All in all a very strong name and returns have been excellent, on the back of which they have done some big fundraisings.
They recruit as the megafunds do come springtime.
Does anyone have any data con comp, especially at junior levels?
Not just for Advent: permira, 3i and apax would be excellent too.
My advice - don't be focused on comp on junior level... what makes or breaks you is comp on VP or Principal level given the fact that making MD is not a given...
Performance at Advent is very good - better than at most megafunds...
Strong reputation in Europe and decent in the U.S. I have heard them referred to as "the Wal-Mart of PE funds," but this was from a guy who tends to look down his nose at most things....
I have a friend who worked in their Boston office - he loved it. Said the people were great to work for and his hours were really good (generally out by 8:30) with very few weekends. He was an ib analyst in NYC and didn't really like living in Boston, though. He said their larger fund was 50/50 for US and Europe and they had a bunch of regional funds for the other regions. I remember looking at the CALPER's website a couple of years ago for returns data as I was curious. If I remember correctly, returns were outstanding with their last 2 joint US/Europe funds having 50-60% IRRs (not sure if things have changed since). As a note, PE fund returns data isnt as secretive as everyone in IB thinks; you can look at CALPERS and WSIB for returns of a lot of funds since they seem to be the biggest LPs out there..
I know a few people who've worked in their Boston office and have really liked it. Agree with most of the statements above. One thing I would add is that my buddies (especially those with consulting backgrounds) would, in addition to spending time sourcing deals and working on deals, spend significant time working with portfolio companies. So total time spent "modeling"/doing other boring financial work is less than at most other shops. This can be good or bad, depending on your preferences.
From a returns perspective, Advent is one of only two shops to have two of their funds in CALPERS' top 10 returning funds (caveat: excluding funds with vintage 2009 or later, as is too early to measure these funds meaningfully). The other shop with two funds in CALPERS' top 10 is Carlyle.
I think they fly under the radar because they do MM deals. My buddy told me their avg check is $250-500M or so (I forget exactly). So you're not hearing about Advent in the news as much, etc.
Hope that helps...
I know that they pay pretty well and the hours/culture in the US is extremely good
CompBanker - I can't say for certain, but based on my friends' experiences, the sourcing did not seem like a major component. In other words, it isn't like Summit Partners where you sit at a desk with a phone book and cold call people all day. I think it is more like doing market research for potential add-ons for current portfolio companies, attending industry conferences, etc.
I know for sure that sourcing is not exclusively done at the associate level, as Advent uses dozens of ex-senior executive operations guys, who have extensive networks in their respective industries. I imagine that these folks would do much of the "sourcing" via their pre-existing network.
I know that associates at Advent are placed within one of their industry/sector groups (ie, not a generalist model). So I think you're expected to become "an expert" in that industry/sector. But I don't know what % of your time you'd spend doing sourcing-esque activities. Probably depends on deal flow.
No idea on promotion structure. Just looked at their website and noticed what you mentioned - a few associates have been there a long time. Not sure what that's about. My buddies told me that Advent wants you to go back to get your MBA... maybe some of those people are at school but planning to return? Or went to school and are now back as senior associates post-MBA? Pure speculation on my part.
How do they treat the companies they buy?
Had an offer from them but chose to pick another similar sized growth capital fund, since in my part of the world growth capital is the norm and buyouts are virtually non existent. But I liked their operating partner model which helps them add real value. Decent lifestyle in the context of other large buyout funds in the US (KKR, TPG, Bain Cap et all) pay is not in the same league as some of the names above but obviously very comparable
They did a lot of US deals in 2012. Transunion, Cytec, Serta/Simmons. Some pretty big deals too.
Advent International & The Riverside Company (Originally Posted: 11/16/2007)
HEy Everyone,
How prestigeous are these 2 firms? What do you know about it? Deal flow? Compensation?
Advent?: Riverside?:
I can only comment on Riverside, a friend of mine went through their process not too long ago and I've gotten my hands on one of their fund prospectuses. Their returns are very good, the fund has a decent reputation, and I think the people are decent, as well. My biggest concern would be since there are so many offices and employees relative to their fund size, what is the quality of your experience? Are you gaurunteed to work on a deal in your two years as a pre-mba associate?
From a prestige standpoint, I don't think you could really go wrong joining a firm like Riverside, but I also don't think they are one of the more prestigious firms. No one I knew was clamoring to get their foot in the door, and I feel like they've been struggling to find good associates (I only say this because I've seen job postings for them since about April/May). Compensation is about average for MM PE, below what you'd make as a third year analyst.
Thanks for the info!!!
I am at a small boutique that does good sized MM deals. We deal with Advent a fair amount, they seem pretty plugged in to our space as alot of our clients know them. I enjoy their chocolate "Advent" calendars, so they get my vote.
Advent International - Launched its process for London (Originally Posted: 11/07/2013)
I recently heard from a friend that Advent launched its process for their London office. I would love to know the headhunter running the search. Is it CPI or are they using a HH overseas? Have they already given out offers?
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