Centerbridge WLB / Comp
Anyone have any insight into Centerbridge WLB, comp, culture, deal flow?
Haven’t had the chance to connect with team yet
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In office most days, 8 AMs every morning
fuck 8 am's. what is this, elementary school?
Bump. Anyone know associate comp?
Never worked there or ever met, but rumors I've heard are:
Comp at the very top of the street (together with APO, WP etc). Also one of the very few shops that have, at least for their RE funds, american carry (accruing deal-by-deal rather than fund-level) which means you can get really serious money if you make the right bets even if the fund overall goes meh.
WLB and culture very tough, sharp elbows and very aggressive overall.
This isn't really how the american carry waterfall works. It means you can get some money sooner, but all this money is still tied to overall fund performance, so (i) not all the "allocated carry" gets paid out in the early deals and (ii) LPs can clawback overpaid carry
It's also worse in that fund-level carry starts vesting from the beginning of the fund's lifecycle and will fully vest in 5 years, while with deal-by-deal the carry from the last deals from the fund (potentially in Y4/5) will not begin to vest until then. So fund-level will fully vest by Y5, while deal-by-deal will fully vest much later.
Interesting fund mandate where associates are given exposure to both the buyouts and credit (special situations) teams before specializing as a mid-level. Gives you a good opportunity to get both equity and credit investing experience, which enables you to be a better investor and think through the capital structure.
Relatively sweaty however, from what I hear.
In my experience, very polished and smart people. Great shop with a nice office. Early mornings though.
Anyone got any more insights? Great stuff has been posted so far. I wonder why the early mornings… also anyone got any idea of a comp figure? 375 aso1 high end of range?
tbh, I think Centerbridge is one of the most overrated funds on the street. Yeah, it's a cool generalist associate position but they've had fundraising issues. You should ask yourself why do you want to join a fund with poor performance AND negative fundraising momentum? Lots of funds have poor performance, but continue to raise larger successive funds. Why can't Centerbridge?
Think it's a shop with a strong legacy but I think the firm and the associates are overrated. This might be a hot take. I think their reputation just hasn't caught up to the reality of their situation. For example, ~2 analysts from PJT RSSG exit to Centerbridge every year and people treat that as a strong exit, but I think it reflects poorly on the judgment (and capabilities) of the PJT RSSG analysts. I think it's just one of those things where people believe PJT RSSG is prestigious (and therefore, it is). And when kids from PJT RSSG exit to Centerbridge, people assume Centerbridge is a good shop.
I wish people in finance did some more first-order thinking to reach independent conclusions about shops. Not saying OP or anyone on this forum is a sheep, but a lot of people just believe stuff because someone else believes something. There are SO many funds right now with a $6-8 billion flagship fund targeting a $10-$14 billion (~50% larger) capital raise for their next vintage. Would strongly encourage many of you to join a platform with strong fundraising growth. It's hard enough to move up in an organization with strong momentum. But in a struggling platform, 1: the probability of moving up decreases AND 2: the expected return if you do move up is lower.
What are some of the funds you're referring to raising these 10-14bn funds right now?
lol
I interviewed at CB on cycle but ultimately chose a MF. Several of my analyst class friends chose CB. I think the tales of their demise are vastly overstated. It’s a top notch firm that attracts quality candidates and pays top of the street for Associate 1.
Here are some of their recent returns according to a quick pitchbook and public filings search
Flagship Pe fund
CCP III (2015 Vintage) 27% Gross IRR and 2.5x Gross Moic
Credit Fund
SC III 2016 Vintage 27% Gross IRR and 1.6x Moic
Not exactly mind blowing returns for a prolonged period of multiple expansion and easy money but still decent enough and in line with competitor firms.
Credit vehicle has had mediocre returns but that’s more reflective on distressed being a hard place to invest than anything else.
I still don’t understand why their aum has trended down over the years. Maybe an insider can explain that better.
Thanks for sharing. tbh, I think most shops have strong performing vintages given the opportunities available over the last ~2.5 years (which is also why so many are raising massive funds over the next 2-3 years).
Can you share why your friends decided to sign with Centerbridge and which firms they turned down? Would be helpful to frame their decision in the context of other opportunities and how they think about personal and firm growth.
https://www.calpers.ca.gov/page/investments/about-investment-office/inv…
Calpers says 2015 vintage is 18.9% IRR. I think most comparable vintages at UMM PE and MFs had much higher returns.
Thats net irr. I was going off the gross figure.
Went through the website where they list all their associates and these are the groups of the current CB associates:
Laz Industrials
Laz RX
Laz TMT
Laz HC
Laz REGL
Moelis
Moelis
Citi RE
Ghl M&A/RX
PWP
JPM TMT
PJT M&A
HL RX
GS FIG
GS SS
I think this is the perfect case that shows exits are not as linear as people might think, and you can virtually get every exit if you communicate with HHs
Centerbridge has had some great exits — i.e. Baupost, BX, Elliott, a bunch of the Tigers. Say what you want about the performance but they continue to push out to top-tier shops.
I will never not laugh when people list a PE fund as an 'exit' from a PE fund.
Why not just go straight to BX or a peer fund if that's the goal? No need to jump through hoops.
I’m just saying it’s an option.
Not sure if this is correct, but according to Preqin their Fund IV (2020) target was $6B and they only closed $3B?
Also, Fund II (2011) is a 0.85x net, according to Preqin
yeah, those figures are directionally right which is exactly the problem lmao
+1.
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