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Are people still fawning over KKR these days? Hear they're not doing so hot.
To answer your questions, people don't talk about best groups because 1) so few people end up at these MFs that there just isn't enough data. The classes are also so small that you're not even comparing groups so much as you are comparing one associate to another. 2) you don't have much influence over where you end up. Carlyle's industry groups recruit separately. WP you don't find out until training. Apollo is all generalists. Same for BX I believe. 3) best group for what? You're not looking for exit opps anymore, and bschools don't care. All that matters is culture/hours to the extent that there are actually any meaningful differences.
Although my sample size is naturally circumscribed, my impression is that people with optionality are increasingly giving preference funds / groups with reputations for having "better" cultures. The truth is that most funds >$4bn (if you will) are virtually indistinguishable, save for personalities. I don't think anyone (at the Associate level) is making choices based on IRR or fund quartiles.
ah I don't know...would you take a sinking ship like Bain/TPG these days over BX/Apollo just because the first pair is known to have a better culture? Although I guess it's a moot point since getting more than one megafund offer is pretty rare.
Tough call, though it would be a wonderful predicament to find oneself in. Just depends on what your longer-term goals are; jobs at any of these four would set you up wonderfully to move onto the next thing (which might cause you to lean towards better culture), but if staying in PE is your goal you might rightfully lean towards performance. My impression, however, is more along the lines of candidates taking upper-MM funds with strong reputations (Berkshire and Centerbridge come to mind) over MFs with reputations for longer hours.
In any case, evaluating the team and general responsibilities of Associates at each fund lends more insight than external rankings based on "matriculation" decisions.
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