Are PE exits sustainable?

Hi everyone,

are PE exits something that people do (or rather, can do) all their lives?

I recently worked with a small cap PE fund with only 10 employees, 7 of which lateraled to the fund after completing the analyst program at Deutsche Bank; the fund has an AUM of a couple hundred million. 

Now for them, that was, I suppose, the infamous PE exit. But I couldn't help but wonder: what if the fund closes? Chances are a small cap fund like this isn't going to be around for decades. They may earn well now but with two years at DB and let's say 5-10 years max at a no-name PE fund, who's gonna hire them if the fund closes?

In other words, is a PE exit really sustainable if you're not at a mega fund or at least a well known mid market fund? 

2 Comments
 

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