Best PE firms in ATL?

At a top EB on the west coast and want to experience living in the south for a little bit before going back to business school. I’d also want to see if I could imagine myself living there full time. Would it be a bad career move to my buy side stint in ATL if I’m doing TMT focused banking? I know accel-KKR had an office but unsure of their strategy/portfolio there. Also how is life in Atlanta for young professionals?

Are there most MF funds in Atlanta or growth or VC? Any insight into the high finance scene will be helpful.

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High finance scene is small. You have Roark and AKKR. Then after that you have odds and ends in the LMM and non-name-brand MM.

Living there as a young professional is fun but you’ll be breaking into existing social circles that go back from a handful of high schools and southeast universities that have maintained their original social circles upon returning to Atlanta. Lots of influential social circles run in 2-3 country clubs (and 1 that is so exclusive, don’t worry about it) as well as a few churches. Your best bet is living in Virginia Highlands (better than Buckhead which is fun but more of the Murray Hill / 1-2 years out of school crowd) which is a very up and coming cool area (has been this way for 5 years so it’s over the hump of gentrification) where you will find fellow transplants. But Atlanta is very much a town of “you’re on the inside” or “you’re on the outside” so it would be tough to be “on the inside” within just 2 years, just an FYI, so I wouldn’t equate working there for a couple years in your 20s with what it’s really like to live there.

 

This is spot on. As someone who grew up in Atlanta and went to one of those high schools (and grew up at one of those country clubs), it’s a very cliquey city in your mid 20s. Lots of people do not branch out from high school/college friend groups.

Personally think it would be tough to move there unless you already have friends living in Atlanta.

 

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