Tried to run a search on WSO but very little info on Partners Group (PG) came out... I read that PG is one of the largest FoF with $94B in AUM, and does FoF, direct PE, private debt, infra, real estate, etc.
How attractive is FoF or fundraising role at PG? salary, bonus, career transition, culture, work-life balance, etc.
Within their field, how is PG compared to other top players like HabourVest or Ardian? Is PG considered equivalent or 2nd tier?
I am currently 1st year associate at a BB with 130K base salary. Can I assume PG pays around the same level?
Unsure about associate level comp but salary at the analyst level is slightly lower than MFPE ($160k~ all in instead of $180k). They're based in Denver tho so COL is way lower. Definitely a stronger platform in Europe but has been growing out American investments. They have a rep for being FoF but still does a lot of work in primary/direct/co investments.
You mean analyst all-in, not salary, right? Most MF PE isn’t paying associates $160k+ salary, let alone analysts
Yeah, meant all-in comp, not base salary.
So at associate 1~2 level, 130K~140K base + 30~50% bonus can be reasonably expected at places like PG? Do you also know if they pay differently across regions? Europe/Asia/NA
This comp range is wrong. For their fresh out of college programs, first year analyst is 95k + 10-20k.
Unsure what their lateral analysts pull but their financial analyst program definitely isn't 160k even for third year.
In terms of FoF, I wouldn't say they are equivalent to Ardian. The fund size of their secondaries flagship would prove so. But that said, PG in recent years has been trying to expand their directs platform too.
Thank you! sent you a PM could you pls check?
PG pays pretty below market, mostly because of the European culture and Denver location
I don’t know about compensation but they are not hiring at the moment, at least in Europe. As someone mentioned, the company strategy has shifted more toward direct investments. I personally don’t consider them a particularly strong manager, but not a bad one either. I think they have been quite successful in raising capital over the past few years.
They most recently (2016) raised a GBP 4.3bn fund, for direct investments. Its a rather large fund. Especially since the preceding direct investments fund was only GBP 1.2bn.
They tend to pull capital out of more buckets than just their mainline LBO fund. A majority of the capital funding their larger cap LBOs is non-mainline LBO fund money.
They have a ton of separate accounts and other investment structures. Discussed this with a couple people who work there, while this does allow them to do bigger deals it also just makes their deals more complex which is a drag on junior workload for portfolio responsibilities. For example you are now reporting to 30+ investors with different reporting requirements rather than 1.
They offer a significant amount of co-invest so the amount of capital they're deploying isn't as large of a leap as their fundraise would imply
Have a friend in their RE group who raves about it, nothing but good things to say. Joined out of college and stayed for a couple years so he's now an associate.
Apparently the comp at analyst level is below street (but also is much lower COL area if you're in Denver) but then normalizes to street after promotions - so if you stick it out in a lower COL city for a few years, you end up net ahead because you'll get street comp at associate level.
Would you mind writing me in DM please? I can not write a DM to you.
Any updates on PG (specifically the Denver office)? Have heard people are friendly, culture and work life balance are generally good (despite the fair amount of bureaucracy from Switzerland), and pay has increased (such that taking into account cost of living and lower taxes vs. NYC the pay is actually pretty good). Believe there's been some turnover at the senior levels, but overall seems like the PE funds are performing pretty well and their fund sizes continue to grow nicely.
Bump
Heard that because Partners Group are doing more direct deals it means there are some funds that won’t take PG as an investor.
HarbourVest, Stepstone etc don’t take this approach and focus on co-investing alongside their GPs.
I've never heard a good thing about their direct investments team, from multiple people who actually worked there. Might depend on your office location?
An ex-colleague who went there and then left very, very fast, mentioned that they have an in-house "portfolio company management" type team (idk the name and idc to find out) that is massive, a deadweight to returns and expensive, and forever fighting with the deal teams for territory.
I also know someone else who went into that in-house PM team and dislike them tremendously. Zero substance and a talker. Literally couldn't get into IBD and PE so they went there.
Edit: Lmao at all the upset portco people throwing monkey shit. I'm sure some of you are decent, but your team was a political nuisance overall from what I've heard. The only person I know who went into your team was a b*tch who was apparently too dumb to understand the relationship between interest rates and bond prices, so that's what I'm basing my judgements on
To my knowledge that group was the portco operations arm and no longer exists, not sure when they did away with it though
I did a superday for their Analyst program, honestly it would be a great place to be in my mind. The office is a campus - very unique and designed like a warehouse but has top tier amenities. Pay was $95k base, not sure on bonus range but I know that it couldn't have been more than $150k all-in. Analysts rotate between different groups for two-three years, which is great experience out of undergrad. It's different than being in a top-tier city like NYC, SFO, London, HK etc. but it seemed dope.
Hey, will you start the Analyst program in the US?
No, heading to another fund.
Could you touch on what your second round and super day experience was? Currently in the process
I'll give you some insights.
Second round was much like the first. Pretty much no pure technicals (having said that, always prepare these). The usual behaviourals. Why PG, tell me about yourself, where do you see yourself in 5 years, tell me about a time when you showed entrepreneurial spirit. Then a few questions around investing. What sector would you invest in and how. What is a growth sector you'd invest in and how.
Superday was 5 long af hours. multiple interviews (very behavioural again). Two cases and a GMAT math test (which is where I think I got clipped).
One case is an investment case and seems to vary on year. Mine was a consumer goods case last year, but I also saw someone on WSO got a real estate case. You have 30 minutes to read through a package+prepare to discuss your thoughts (buy or not?), then 30 minute discussion about it.
Second one is similar format but like an IR case. They give you some documents. You have to pitch why someone should invest in PG.
GMAT test is maybe 15-20 minutes? 8-10 questions I think. You can google GMAT math questions for practice.
They also have a dinner the night before like most in-person superdays. Overall, as someone said before in this forum (when I was doing my research), they want to make sure you can "drink the PG kool-aid." Good luck.
Hey, Are you going for the superday? I'm also in the process and just heard back for the superday.
Horrible shop from a secondaries perspective. All the senior talent has left.
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