Chicago Family Office Scene

I am about to begin my analyst stint at a MM in Chicago (Blair, Baird, Lincoln, Piper) and I am somewhat interested in private equity. In researching, I've read quite a bit about family offices and I've read that it may be a better option for someone looking to make a career in PE due to better WLB. With that being said, if someone with experience in Chicago could say some notable family offices as well as comp / WLB details if possible that would be awesome. I appreciate the help!

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I’d take a look at the PEAC website (Private Equity Association of Chicago) for a good starting list. They also put together a resume book every year that is distributed to a large group of PE Firms and family offices. As someone that interviewed with several family offices before eventually just taking a MM PE offer, many of the FOs operated identical to traditional firms with the same expectations around WLB. Equity Group (Sam Zell’s family office), for example, has a leaner team and is known to do bigger, hairier deals with associates putting in hours.

 

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