Tl;dr: If I have great renewables market knowledge, analytical aptitude, project-level investing experience, and operational involvement with portcos, but have not been involved with a platform-level investment, is it possible/reasonable for me (a Sr Assoc) to hop to a larger infra/renewables fund at the VP level?
Full context:
- I'm a second-year (senior) associate at a fairly small fund that invests in renewable energy developers. Past experience in energy consulting and international development, then M7 MBA.
- My fund's model is to take a controlling stake in renewable project developers early on and cover 3-4 years of G&A with the initial check, then support growth (new project development opportunities) with incremental quarterly equity injections.
- When a portco wants to add a new project:
- They submit it to us for approval.
- I write the investment memo and build the model based on the info they provide on the project plus my own research on e.g. cost of debt for renewables, sense checking their technical assumptions, etc).
- IC approves (or rejects) the incremental spend required to develop the project for ~24-48 months before it is sold around NTP (basically when financing is arranged and project is ready for construction to start).
- Have gotten IC approval to fund development of 10+ projects through this process.
- Have also killed 4 projects that my analysis showed weren't good enough -> those projects were all killed before portcos spent anything on them and weren't taken to IC.
- We had three portcos when I started at the fund and we're not considering adding more - all new investments are made by adding projects to the existing platforms.
- I'm on the board of two of the three and very operationally involved in all three: Corporate strategy, hiring, reporting, etc.
- My comp is definitely below market and will continue to be even if/when I get promoted to VP in the next 6-12 months, so I'm thinking about moving on to a larger/more traditionally structured fund (think Generate, Greenbacker, etc - renewables specialists, not infra arms of megafunds).
- I'm worried that while I am experienced at looking at evaluating project-level investments and have been heavily involved in operational topics, not having written a platform-level check is going to hamstring me when funds ask for my deal sheet and I don't have anything to show them. Do I:
- Treat the project-level IC approvals I've gotten as "deals," although these projects were sourced internally from existing portcos and are very early-stage development assets?
- Emphasize sell-side experience I've gotten in this role from the ongoing effort to divest from one of the three portcos (expected to close in Q4)?
- Emphasize wearing a lot of hats as part of a very lean investment team that expects me to be good at many different things, i.e. play up management/judgment/soft skills and operating experience?
- Swallow my pride and target lateraling to a Sr Assoc position at the types of funds I'm targeting rather than trying for VP?
Any feedback on this would be much appreciated.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are some insights and advice for your situation:
Key Points to Consider:
Project-Level Experience as Deals:
Sell-Side Experience:
Operational Involvement:
Management and Soft Skills:
Considering a Lateral Move:
Additional Advice:
Conclusion:
While not having closed a platform-level deal might be a concern, your extensive project-level experience, operational involvement, and sell-side activities can still make you a strong candidate for a VP role. If necessary, a lateral move to a Senior Associate position could be a strategic step to bridge any gaps in your experience.
For more detailed discussions and advice, you might find the following WSO threads helpful: - https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/private-equity/renewable-energy-p…</a">Renewable Energy PE Overview - https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/private-equity/no-vp-promote-from…</a">No VP Promote from Sr. Associate - Seeking Advice
Good luck with your career move!
Sources: PE Senior Associate - What next?, No VP Promote from Sr. Associate - Seeking Advice, Direct Invest to FoF/Co-Invest?, From Private Equity Associate to VP in Private Equity, Q&A: Corp Dev Professional at Large-Cap Tech Company
Bump, still looking for some guidance on this.
Gunning for a title increase at an up-market fund in this market without a platform closed? I mean, not gonna say no but you need to set your expectations. Nobody wants to hire VPs as it stands, and if they are they’re gonna want some more experience (or have you get that title already).
Short answer: you have good ideas for spinning your experience. Swallow ego and try for Sr. Assoc - this is already gonna be highly competitive currently.
Thanks, this is helpful. Appreciate your thoughts.
Part of the (perhaps misplaced) confidence that I could pull this off is that I did an AVP internship at a MM infra fund during my MBA summer, crushed it, and got the return offer, but turned it down (would have made bank but didn't like location or culture enough to go back).
Also, I do expect a VP promote relatively soon in my current role, so perhaps the way to do this is stick it out until then, and then try to jump ship as a lateral VP hire.
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