Blackstone Recruiting Has Gone Bonkers
Good luck to anyone applying for their private equity group. Just about every single one of the analysts is a summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of an Ivy league institution. Many of them were valedictorian or salutatorian of their college class, too.
Most them have profiles like: National Merit Scholar > Oxford University study abroad > Goldman internship > Ivy League valedictorian > Blackstone Analyst
The other groups (e.g. real estate) seem a bit more inclusive of different profiles. Basically you need to have a Rhodes-Scholar-like profile from an Ivy institution in order to get into the private equity group. (A big exception, of course, for some "diversity" hires, as Blackstone has a recruiter assigned to recruit exclusively female candidates.)
Yes, no shit.
So what, did you expect them to hire kids with an Average GPA at an Average School who got an Average Internship?
Blame yourself for not being a competitive applicant
BREAKING: Best firm on the street has resorted to hiring *gasp* the best possible candidates! Who do they think they are? What about the kids who aren't as smart or driven? My parents told me I was special, what gives?
And what are you going to do about it?
LOL CHILL OUT people
just an eye opening stat, that's all
just checked some female blackstone PE analysts' linkedin profiles. if you think they are less qualified than their male counterparts, you are more than likely a slow adult. like, very slow.
L take
There’s a WSO podcast on a female who went straight into BX. If anyone thinks their female analysts are not qualified after listening to that then yeah … very much slow
Some of their female analysts just don't have the backbone for this work, but are "carried" along for inclusivity image building. Simple fact.
Need a lot of brainpower to return ~10% at BCP...
Sorry not in PE. Is this a joke on low returns or a praise of high returns?
It’s pretty low for PE as a whole but not as much for its size. For context, you’ll get 10% from the S&P in an average year.
Net returns for every BCP fund: 19, 32, 14, 36, 8, 13, and 21 percent.
If you put $1 in the S&P and $1 in BCP I and let it compound, you’d have under $25 in the S&P and over $250 in BCP. They get rich because they’re good.
But yeah, whatever let’s you sleep at night.
And what if, instead of comparing apples to zucchinis, I levered that initial investment in the S&P to 50%+?
I kind of doubt the “10%” dig was aimed at late 80s vintage fund.
Levered beta without mark to market be like: Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
huh - this return series compounds to 260% return and S&P did 200% return for the period. If they are net returns def worth paying up for that addtnl 60% over 7 yrs
Most of those big IRRs were from their earlier funds, which were significantly smaller. Their most recent funds (the current, scaled version of BX) - BCP V (~$21B), VI (~$15B), and VII (~$19B), generated net returns of 8%, 13%, and 21%, respectively. Solid, but not THAT amazing.
No disrespect at all to BX, they've built a fantastic business and brand, but their returns are not as good as they used to be. There's just a lot of capital chasing too few opportunities. I think PE is still a great asset class to invest in, but as an LP there are a handful of other GPs I'd give my money to first.
Took a look at the "diversity hires" that are analysts in FO investment roles.
Saw appears to be the valedictorian at Harvard, someone who did an Everxore IBD analyst stint, an experienced analyst in Infra who did a couple years at General Electric Infra. Where one of the GIP foundersand other megafund infra guys are from.
^ There are several valedictorians at Harvard each year. It's really a matter of majoring in a soft subject (not STEM) to avoid getting the 1 A- that the next 20 kids all ranked "second" got hit by. It requires a lot of brushing up to professors/TAs but it's not as earth-shattering as it seems. That said, still very impressive, and very deserving of the spot (gender is definitely not a consideration here).
Recruitment process for BX aside from the network/connection hires is legit. I don't understand why there's so much hate...it's the best / safest MFPE analyst program in existence and an unparalleled one for placing into elite HF after 3-year analyst program. Obviously they take the top pedigree students. There's only 5 spots in their traditional corporate PE group. People complaining are just mad because they didn't spend as much time grinding their GPAs or failed the interviews.
Stfu. Still a counter argument for all these try-hards claiming "diversity candidates" were basically hired with no credibility.
All those tricks/games to win the valedictorian badge (gerrymandering the measuring stick, hobnobbing and brown nosing, only playing the game that makes you look best, etc) necessary are real world skills that help you excel far more than getting an A+ in biochem based on pure mental horsepower and brute force studying — unless your life goal is being a particle physicist at Princeton.
The GE analyst profiles are fake PE. They're in portco valuations and BX tends to take kids from F500 FLDP programs to fill these roles at analyst comp w/o the bonus
You gotta be white. There's just no way you're not.
im dead LOL
No way all these people are in FO roles right? https://news.efinancialcareers.com/us-en/266903/what-it-takes-to-get-hired-by-blackstone-in-the-us
No, seems like a majority of them are filling up middle-office roles. The ones on the private equity team are the ones who attended Ivy League school and had done banking
Next up on BREAKING NEWS: Scientists discover Victory Secret models don't date broke bois, and are now conducting intensive hypothesis testing to understand why
Seriously. Dating has gone absolutely bonkers. Everyone dating a model is either attractive, has a good personality, or has money
^ hasn't this always been the case? they are models after all. at the end of the day, physical attractiveness is the most probable characteristic that guys look for.
You can replace personality with 6ft+ height. With the ridiculous attention ratios that women are getting via instagram/tiktok/tinder nowadays, personality isn't even a variable when there's not enough time to read any message.
omg, I thought it was true love!!! Damm, I have been living a lie since I watched Beauty and the Best!
Bullshit !
My friend went to USC for undergrad, then NYU for masters, then moved to a small AM shop in CT. After just one year post-grad, she landed an offer at Blackstone NYC office, so do not be discouraged !
Just to be clear, are you more concerned about the competitiveness of Blackstone as a whole or of the PE group specifically? I know someone who went to a non-target school (ranked around 30 nationally) who transitioned to Blackstone after two years as an IB analyst at a BB. He was capable academically, but didn't stand out in any profound way like the candidates you describe. Given, he's in the Credit division and not PE, but there are plenty of other examples on LinkedIn (where I assume you are finding these "profiles") of people that went to similar non-HYPMS schools and are working at Blackstone. They usually don't specify that they're in PE or not, but I don't see a reason to assume they aren't.
.
Classic case of people erecting walls to hide insecurity.
I just really think it does a disservice to anyone who comes across this site. Maybe the graduate from IU/UofI/Penn State doesn't get the interview for BX. Regardless, I'm sure said student will get interviews at most UMM/MM PE funds and a plethora of HFs that care less about pedigree. There are at most 50 MF associate seats to fill a year; if the prospect of not having access to one of those seats really bothers you, then I suggest you pretend like they don't even exist. You'll be just as happy and successful at another place.
How many Associates does BX take in usually year then? 5? So like half their Associate class is non-HYPS? Curious...
.
Just be competitive...
For entry-level, this is true, but if you look at the profile of senior people in the private equity group (Managing Director and Senior Managing Director), you will see much less people with such "gold plated" resumes. Still very accomplished people, no doubt, but they weren't necessarily people who graduated at the top of their class and/or got uber-selective Oxbridge fellowships
Moreover, many of these senior folks joined Blackstone after doing private equity elsewhere or even career-switched from completely different industries (e.g. consulting). I was curious so I looked up a few of the gentlemen who had Harvard or HBS on their profiles, many of them didn't even graduate with honors (I am a Harvard alum so I have access to the alumni directory which displays - besides the usual contact information, etc. - whether someone graduated with honors)
The key takeaway is to not focus on specific firms and just get into the industry. Period.
I second Deo's opinion. I work with many PEs including BlackRock. BlackRock assoc are really capable day one (don't believe I have spoken to one of their analysts). Over time these gold plated education resume folks move around carving out their own niches and that creates opportunity for people with excellent work experience and success to work at BlackRock (KKR, Carlyle etc). Of course the real goal is wealth. Wealth comes from ownership. Aspire to get in the industry, learn it, and look for a place to become a partner - or a group to create your own shop.
BlackRock and Blackstone are slightly different firms. If you tell a Blackstone Associate you've heard of his firm and really like BlackRock they'll probably cry
Moral of the story: if you don't have that kind of resume, make sure you're born into a family that's worth $30B like several past and present BX PE analysts
Really speaks volumes about your own personality if you're going on a forum to call out some 21 year old...
Just leave the kid alone and hustle more instead of crying about not being born into a wealthy family.
Really speaks volumes about your intellect if you think I'm "calling him out" in any way shape or form...
Well. have you considered dancing really hard in front of thier NYC office. Just get out there and bust some sick moves in from of Steve. He'll probably ignore the fact that you never graduated from space academy
Bonk
Ugh - spin a good story with SG and you'll at least get a phone screen from these guys. And yeah if it looks like their PE team has those hires as the majority, is it really such a surprise? They are regarded as the best, why wouldn't they hire those regarded as the best? They're not even known to be scrappy like certain other MFs. Super prestige-driven. Find your own and what works
I can’t believe I didn’t get a first round interview with a 3.6 GPA and work experience as a lifeguard my sophomore year.
There are plenty of solid but not otherwise particularly impressive profiles that Blackstone hires, even for the PE group. My semi-target sends 1-2 each year. Candidly, I think someone going to Blackstone PE wrote this post to jerk themselves off.
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