Australian PE rankings, exit opps and global mobility

Hoping to get opinions on the relative attractiveness / rankings of PE shops in Australia.

Would appreciate any background colour, such as associate-level compensation, work culture and exit opps (e.g. ease of internal global mobility, lateraling to other PE shops, or moving to HF or VC).

Im aware the wallet size of Australian classic PE is slim compared to the US market. I’d be very interested in stories of people moving from Aussie PE to US MF PE (e.g. recognition of Aussie PE experience, competitiveness compared to local US candidates, etc.)

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From a generalist perspective, there are a handful of larger Australian PE shops (e.g., PEP, BGH, Archer) and you would have heard of each one from reading the AFR and a number of US MF (e.g., KKR) which are also active in Australia. Beyond this, I feel like the PE landscape is VERY fragmented in Australia and it's harder to create clear cut buckets which classify firms into UMM, MM, LMM, etc.

Given the sheer number of smaller shops, all of the variables which you had listed such as pay, culture and exits will vary so much from one place to another. Further, given many people end up staying in one place after joining a shop for the long run, you just won't get too much insight as people are typically more open after they have already left their job for another. In short, the industry is super fragmented, it's small and you will find it difficult to find any real consensus.

I'll answer what I can from your message above, below:

  • I do not have much experience with people transferring to another PE overseas but I do not see why this would be an issue, obviously if you have worked within a US MF in Australia, it will make the switch to a US MF in the US itself much easier;
  • Lateralling to other PE shops locally is not an issue, the main problem you will find is that the turnover is not high and many end up staying at the same shop for many years (at least the good ones);
  • I feel like moving to HF is pretty difficult, this is usually a pathway for someone from Equity Research, perhaps ECM. Moving to VC seems like it should be easily achievable.
 

Would add on the global mobility. There are many Australian funds and superannuations investing overseas (QIC, AustralianSuper, etc). These firms are setting up their offices overseas, which create much international mobility. Vice versa, as mentioned, look for US/European funds with offices in Australia too.

 

If anyone has some colour on IB AN in aus -> UMM/MF Pe AS in us/uk that would be appreciated (probably like non lmfao)

I also wonder how many kids per year get into IB analyst programs in ldn/nyc directly from aus undergrad; and

how many domestic aus kids attend international targets (think oxb/hypw) and get into aforementioned IB analyst programs directly out of college

 

essentially no aus undergrads will get offers for overseas offices (maybe singapore / hong kong the exception, unless you are a foreign student)

much more common for aus undergrads to receive a grad offer at a global bank then transfer 1.5-2yrs in  

 

Top tier local funds are Quadrant, PEP, BGH. Quadrant is the only top decile fund globally that is Australian based.

Of the global funds KKR and TPG are biggest and most active. Carlyle / Blackstone are borderline satellite offices and do one deal every couple of years. Others like Apollo do deals but don’t have an office in Aus.

Moving to PE overseas from PE in Australia is almost impossible if you try to transfer internally. Much much more common and effective to transfer to an IB in the US/LDN, then exit to PE after you’ve done a year.

 

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