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Two and out.
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Great firm. Historically had first or second quartile funds until their second to last fund, which was a fourth quartile dud (negative IRR when I had checked last year). Despite the recent blip, they were still able to raise $7B for their last fund in 2018. A couple of kids a bit younger than me from my bank (another boutique) received offers there. I believe comp was ~$300k all-in for first year associates but not sure if that's still the case.
They historically required MBAs for promotion but if you take a look at the website, you'll see quite a few senior associates (who started as associates there) now so perhaps things have changed recently (trend emerging at a lot of firms over the last few years).
UMM is a bit nebulous (could be $2bn+ for some people vs. $5bn+ for others) but here are some solid MM and UMM funds:
NYC: AEA, American Securities, Centerbridge, Cerberus, Court Square, Crestview, Kelso, KPS, Lindsay Goldberg, New Mountain (just raised $10B fund but look at more MM than MF type deals and use buy and build strategy), Oak Hill, Odyssey, Searchlight, Siris, TowerBrook, Welsh Carson
Boston: Abry, Audax, Berkshire, Charlesbank, Great Hill, THL
Chicago: BDT, GTCR, MDP
SF / LA: Ares, FFL, Francisco, Genstar, GI Partners, Golden Gate, Marlin Equity
Other: HIG (HQ in Miami), Kohlberg (Mount Kisco), L Catterton (Greenwich), Roark (Atlanta)
I have seen people get promoted to senior associate or VP without an MBA at American Securities, Centerbridge, Cerberus, Court Square (new this year it seems), New Mountain, Welsh Carson, GTCR (have seen people do one year senior associate after two years as an associate but then go for MBA), MDP, Abry (has had partner track for some time now), Berkshire (recent), THL (recent), Francisco (VP after three years as associate), Golden Gate, etc. Great HBS placement at a handful of these firms, including New Mountain, GTCR, MDP, Berkshire, Charlesbank, THL, Golden Gate, etc. I think AmSec sent 3 to HBS last year but they historically haven't placed as well into business school as some of those other funds. Some of the West Coast funds have had more of a pipeline into GSB (have seen multiple people from Berkshire, Crestview, GTCR, etc. go there as well).
Hours / culture are a bit difficult to generalize as those can sometimes vary significantly even at the same firm across different groups. I have anecdotally heard better things about the culture of most of the Boston-based firms (well, Audax is very sweaty and I've heard conflicting things about Charlesbank) but even large cap funds with Advent and Bain appear to have better WLB and culture than most of the larger NYC-based firms I've come across. Ares, Centerbridge, and Lindsay Goldberg all seem pretty sweaty but honestly a lot of top firms will keep their associates pretty busy. Centerbridge is head and shoulders above the majority of the market (other than Apollo) with first years getting up to ~$400k or so. Most funds will be in the $250k to $300k range for first year all-in comp but vary with respect to the step-up in second year pay.
Welsh Carson is a very well-respected name. They only invest in healthcare and technology but they seem to be better known for their healthcare investments. My firm competes with them in a lot of processes. I think most to all of their funds have been second or third quartile (maybe more second quartile). They've never really had a terrible fund though they've also never really had an absolute top tier performing fund either. InnoVage was a great deal for them.
This was very helpful - thank you for the thoughtful response!
Similar thread here
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/nyc-umm-reputation
How would one compare an offer from here vs Francisco Partners or Veritas Capital?
I am the same guy who wrote the long post above. All great firms but pretty different with respect to what sectors they invest in. It's going to be pretty unlikely that you land offers from more than one of those three firms (let alone one, as recruiting is an absolute crapshoot and these are all amazing firms, but all the more power to you if you can). Location and sector preference would be the biggest deciding factors for me.
American Securities primarily invests in consumer, healthcare, and industrials. They've always been pretty active in the chemicals space. Pretty focused on finding solid management teams. They have some Shanghai office (don't know much about this) but they're really just based in NYC.
Veritas is very focused on government services, A&D, and to a lesser extent, HCIT. They've been doing some really massive deals of late. Absolute killer returns (I'm talking top decile on multiple funds). Based in NYC. I'm not sure how long they can milk their strategy but whatever they're doing, it's working. Great fund but extremely brutal WLB from the one data point I have.
Francisco is pure-play tech. Based in SF (think they have a London office as well). Their first couple of funds weren't that great but they've been picking up steam. They're not as large as the big tech guys (e.g., Vista, Thoma, Silver Lake) but they're a very solid UMM player. Also worth noting that I've seen associates there get promoted to VP after three years (all as associate, no business school).
I would take American Securities over the other two if I was lucky enough to be faced with such a decision. I don't have much of an interest in tech (or the West Coast) and I'm not particularly keen on government services. I like the primary sectors that American Securities invests in and I've anecdotally heard good things from friends of friends who have worked there. I also would prefer to work on the East Coast (NYC or Boston) so my preference would be 1) AmSec 2) Veritas 3) Francisco but you can't go wrong with any of them, especially if that's where you're starting your PE career.
Really appreciate the insights here. When you say that Veritas is brutal for WLB what does that look like from an actual work perspective? Is it that even during times when deals aren't heating up associates are working 70-80 hours a week consistently or is that there are just many in depth looks at deals going on that make associates work 80+ a lot more often than at other funds?
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