AMA: Senior Analyst in a top-tier European Mid-Cap PE fund

No worries, I’ll try to give you the full picture.

Recruitment in PE
It really depends on the type of fund. In LMM, HH aren’t really part of the process. Most funds either post a job ad or just go through their network, and usually the person who already has a connection with someone senior gets priority. That’s actually how I got my current role in LMM, it was just networking after a deal and reaching out directly to the team I wanted.

At the UMM or MF level, it’s different. HH are more common. You’ll usually do a quick fit chat with them, then they send your CV to the investment team, and if it sticks, you’re in the process. The upside is they’ll also ping you whenever new roles pop up, since they’ve got visibility across the market. That’s how I got my first MF role.

Still, nothing beats having a direct link with the team. If you’ve taken the time to build relationships through coffee chats or deal work, you’ll always be ahead of the pile.

Comp
At the associate level, both PE and IB pay in the low six figures and go up as you gain experience. In the long run, despite all the hype around carry, comp ends up being pretty similar between the two.

Interview prep
What surprises me most when I interview juniors is how many people are great on the technicals but can’t step back and see the bigger picture. They can build a basic LBO (with a working MIP of course), but when you ask why the deal makes sense or where the value comes from, they don’t know what to say.

That’s where, what I call, "deal sense" comes in. On one side, you need the strategic view, why a buyer wants the business, the risks, and where value could be created. On the other, you need the model view, showing how that story ties into the numbers and drives returns (which I would go as far as to say, it's less important than the other one).

When I interview, I’m not just checking if you can run an LBO. I want to see if you understand what the outputs mean and how they connect back to the deal rationale. On live deals, try to ask yourself: why is the client selling, why would a buyer pay this price, and what will actually make this deal work or fail? If you get used to thinking like that early on, you’ll stand out.

And my best advice: come in ready to talk through a few deals you worked on. Have a quick one-liner on the investment thesis, be able to walk through the valuation work you did, and explain how it tied into the deal. That’s really what we look for. And be ready to give your own piece of advice on sectors, deals, market trends... I like to ask if you think it was a good deal or not, for example (trust me, it's a trick question).

And honestly, most investment theses for standard LBOs are pretty similar, strong market fundamentals, solid financials, strong management, and an M&A machine with attractive valuation (you'll learn that all PE firms see the price they pay as attractive and surprisingly below market average/median). That only shifts in special cases, like turnarounds where you look at low-hanging fruits, or in pure organic plays.

Exit timing
Most people start thinking about moving after 12 to 18 months. By then you’ve usually seen enough deals to be able to talk them through properly. One year is normally too early unless you’ve already closed strong transactions.

My advice: use your first year to really build skills and get deal reps. Once you’ve got a couple of solid transactions under your belt, HH and funds will take you much more seriously.

And one last piece of advice: learn the jargon. If you can, read through a few PE investment committee notes, it’ll help you get used to how deals are framed and how investors actually analyze a business (bear in mind that 60% of the note is CDD rewriting).

Appreciate your perspective, thanks a lot for the input!

On the UK side, political risk is definitely part of the conversation right now, especially for anything with indirect exposure to public budgets, govtech, healthtech, even infrastructure-adjacent verticals. So in underwriting, we’re a lot more focused on resilience (which is something obvious you would say): recurring revenue, embedded products, and diversified end-customers. If a business relies heavily on UK public procurement, it needs to be bulletproof, otherwise we take 0 risks (same with any country, if we see too much public exposure, we back out).

On international exposure, totally agree that the US has the structural benefit of macro consistency across states (although current 401k PE involvement boosts fundraises and dealflow there even if politically unstable). Europe doesn’t offer that, so we’re more cautious. 

For us, Turkey, North Africa, and most of the Middle East are essentially no-fly zones unless you’re a dedicated local investor. The risk-adjusted return just isn’t compelling enough for us without a structural edge. We focus on regions where we have confidence in the legal frameworks, currency stability, and exit environments. Usually have some advisors locally but deal flow remains really niche with very high risk deals. (I wouldn't call Turkey westernized yet but we are getting there :))

That said, we’re quite bullish on the Nordics right now. It’s one of the few regions still driving super alpha with disciplined valuations and outstanding returns (i was amazed to see the amount of MF deals in the Nordics, bidding there is literally unwinable for LMMs or UMMs). You get governance, innovation, and very fragmented markets.

Neutral on Werstern Europe, that's the region most of my deals are and it has been the same geopolitical story for years now.

France right now is in a special state where the IMF could take over, meaning privatization of a lot of assets, which is a strong dip to buy for us in PE, especially at discount valuations as you would expect.

For me the move out of trading was about wanting something more tangible. I was trading interest rate derivatives on the sell-side, and while it was intellectually challenging, I got tired of working on products that felt like they were built by and for financiers. You could make a great trade but at the end of the day there was nothing you could really see. I wanted to be on deals where you can actually get in the driver’s seat, help build a company, and see the impact in real life. HFs sometimes do that, but it’s rare, PE just offered much better prospects for what I wanted. On top of that, trading felt pretty lonely, while PE is very team-oriented, which I enjoy a lot more.

I knew my background might look like a handicap, so I spent a lot of time refining my story. I’ve been challenged on it plenty of times, but every time I’ve been able to turn it into a strong answer. If you believe in your reasons, and your technicals are really sharp, you can absolutely make the switch. In my case, when I interviewed for IB M&A at a BB coming out of trading, there wasn’t a single technical I couldn’t answer, and that credibility mattered a lot (I knew I was going to get asked more technical questions than the others, considering my background, in both trading and pure maths).

On networking: it’s critical everywhere, whether London, Paris, Frankfurt, or the US. Most roles don’t just come from online applications, many never even hit the market, they’re filled through referrals or existing relationships. Don’t get discouraged if people don’t always reply. Even a handful of responses is enough to open doors. For some junior roles at the big funds, HH are trusted gatekeepers, so it’s worth knowing the main ones. But ultimately, direct contact with the investment team usually carries more weight (I'd suggest you send emails for coffee chats, without looking "needy").

One last tip: be ready to walk through a few deals you’ve worked on or even just followed, with a clear investment angle and some valuation thinking. That’s what interviewers really look for. And if you haven’t been directly on deals, you can build your own examples, as long as you know your analysis cold, no one can tell whether the deal closed or not. Reading IC memos online (a few float around) is also a great way to start keeping up with PE jargon.

And a quick note: when you say you’re “interested in the buy side,” make sure you’re specific. Buy side can mean very different things, hedge funds, PE, or even corporate development. Each one requires a different story and set of skills, so clarity on which path you want makes a huge difference when you’re pitching yourself. Especially, but I guess you already know, PE analyst roles usually don't exist, the golden route is first few years of IB (M&A, levfin, ECM, DCM), then you make the switch at associate level. Same rule for all buy-side opportunities, remember that you are managing someone else's money, so your best selling point is expertise.