Is anybody aware of any UMM/MM PE funds with strong work-life balance in Chicago or Boston (on a first or second hand basis)?
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Chicago: CIVC good WLB. Waud good WLB. GTCR hit or miss based on group, some fine some nightmare fuel. MDP is a grind. BDT uncertain but very good people. Vistria I think is fine (know a guy there who likes it) but don't know much else. Shore is a bit grindy but they all seem to like it just fine so think that means experience is worth it. Maybe a bit more than UMM, but Bain Cap apparently pretty much every Associate wants to come back after school (blows my mind). Cove Hill has amazing culture but not sure about WLB (just no data points).
Would challenge the claim Cove Hill has amazing culture. They just had 5 of 7 Associates quit within the year. Pretty alarming for such a new fund
I stand corrected.
I would echo a lot of this. Right on the money for CIVC, Waud, GTCR, MDP and Shore. A few points to add. BDT has great culture - hours creep up at times, but no facetime. Linden, Audax and Riverside are a grind. Flexpoint, like GTCR, varies significantly between teams. Windpoint is middle of the road.
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Agree with the above. Out of the "Big 3", culture would probably be BDT > MDP = GTCR HC/GBS > GTCR TMT/FS. However, they all operate in large cap/UMM space so hours are long regardless.
For Boston, Bain seems to be the most reasonable out of the UMM/MF because they overstaff deal teams. Berkshire used to be pretty good but because they’re now verticalized, it is probably team dependent. Avoid Audax and Parthenon
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Can you PM me?
comp at vistria?
bump
It's difficult to find a shop that is not a grind when you get to the UMM/large cap space because that's just the nature of the job when it comes to process and deal complexity. If you're looking for strong WLB, going for MM shops that don't hinge on buy and build thesis (i.e. not Audax) would be your best bet.
Look at team pages for VPs / Senior associates. At Providence and Berkshire in Boston for example, a good amount are promotes who decided to stay on / come back after B school which is a great sign for culture.
Providence has bottom bucket culture
Echo this, both are sweat shops. There's an element of self selection - just because a firm can woo someone back doesn't mean the firm isn't intense, and the people willing to come back may be the only ones intense enough to handle that environment well. Doesn't mean both aren't great places, but they both grind quite hard.
Anecdotally, I've heard that Audax PE in Boston is an absolute grind and I'd avoid it at all costs if WLB is important to you.
Boston PE Scene.
Big Guys -> Advent, Bain, Berkshire, Summit, TA. Haven't heard any good things about WLB.
MM / Fringe UMM Funds -> ABRY, ArcLight, Audax, BayPine, Charlesbank, Great Hill, Parthenon, THL. BayPine is a new, fast growing fund. Enjoyed working with Charlesbank and Great Hill in the past. Audax / THL can be sweaty.
MM / Smaller Funds -> Cove Hill, Nonantum, Prospect Hill, WestView, Yellow Wood. Windjammer also has a decent BOS presence. Worked with most of these at some point - all good teams with different focus areas.
When we say "grind" for GTCR, MDP, Audax, Cove, etc. what does that actually mean in terms of absolute hours when you're not on a live deal vs. on a live deal?
I can't say for sure but annecdotally, we've sold a couple of companies to Audax and whenever I'm on a zoom with their juniors it literally always looks like they have not slept - like at all.
Audax is absolutely dog shit culture. I know a ton of people first-hand that can attest to that. Maybe if it were BX or a rising star fund, then it could get away with that but come on... this is Audax.
Avoid like the plague.
MDP is grindy because it has a big portfolio and no ops team so even if you're not busy on a new deal, there will be something going on at your portco
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