Currently looking for co-investment roles in the Boston / NYC area... I have more insight into the traditional growth / buyout recruiting but not so much co-investing.
For those in the industry or know more about it than I do, are there certain things to look for / look out for when evaluating shops to work at? Anything is appreciated!
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Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are some insights for evaluating co-investment roles in the Boston/NYC area:
Firm Reputation and Track Record: Look into the firm's history of successful co-investments. Evaluate their deal flow, relationships with GPs, and the quality of their portfolio. Firms like Bain Capital, Advent International, and Charlesbank Capital Partners in Boston are well-regarded in the private equity space.
Investment Strategy: Understand the firm's co-investment strategy. Are they focused on specific industries, geographies, or deal sizes? For example, Boston is strong in healthcare, tech, and life sciences, so firms in this region may lean towards these sectors.
Team Dynamics and Culture: Culture can vary significantly between firms. Some may have a more collaborative environment, while others might be more hierarchical. Networking with current or former employees can provide valuable insights.
Deal Involvement: Assess how involved you will be in the deal process. Some co-investment roles are more passive, focusing on evaluating opportunities presented by GPs, while others may involve active deal sourcing and structuring.
Exit Opportunities: Consider how the role aligns with your long-term career goals. Co-investment roles can provide exposure to both direct investing and fund investing, which can be valuable for transitioning to other areas of private equity or asset management.
Networking: Leverage alumni networks and connections in Boston and NYC. As mentioned in previous WSO threads, networking in both cities can open doors, even if the initial opportunity isn't in your preferred location.
If you're targeting specific firms, Boston has a strong presence of private equity firms like Summit Partners, TA Associates, and Audax Private Equity, which may have co-investment opportunities. NYC, being a larger financial hub, will have a broader range of options.
Good luck with your search!
Sources: Outside NYC/SF, how would you rate cities for finance/consulting/corporate opps?, Private Equity Firms in Boston, Let's be honest about PE, TMT Investment Banking (NYC) BB, Boston PE Firms
Many firms merge their co-investing teams with the fund investing team, and you might be doing 50-60% primaries and 50-40% co-investments. Would this be interesting to you?
Another thing to decide is if you would rather be at a big firm (e.g. HarbourVest) or at a family office. The latter would be less stressful, but risk offering less exposure and deal flow.
I went down this path before ultimately doing something else due to the current hiring market (RIP…maybe some other time), here are some things you want to consider / ask:
do you by any chance know the approximate/typical hours and pay at the junior level (going from buyout PE associate to secondaries associate) for secondaries?
Did some research on this space before ultimately going in another direction. Would echo a lot of what has already been said, but would also add that the big firms tend to be mid-level heavy and political given the strategy expanded up until fundraising got harder the last couple years. I’ve heard some negative things culturally about the big shops in the Northeast and NYC though, less so west coast. Think HarbourVest and Ardian.
That said, if you’re at one of the big firms with a dedicated co-invest team you’re getting the most important aspects of the PE execution experience down, but you don’t have to handle some of the bullshit (SPA negotiations, confirmatory 3rd party advisors, etc.) that leads to excessive hours. That said, some of that stuff is still important which is why you might want to start in a classic PE gig before switching to co-invest. It’s like 90% similar at the associate level but it diverges more as you hit VP+.
View the role very similar to what the big SWF like GIC and ADIA do in that you can be taking large minority positions in deals and taking a back seat to the daily portco work, but still rigorous in diligence.
Calling SPA bullshit shows you don’t understand deal making at all frankly
Thanks for all the insight here - also thinking of making the switch; does anyone have any updated figures in terms of what compensation looks like at the Asc / Sr Associate / VP levels?
Another poster alluded to it already but do want to echo the point that some of these SWFs are more robust in their investment philosophy. GIC and Mubadala are some of the most active in the space and they have a Direct Investments team which does the co-invest. Fund of funds is not done from this group so you would be isolated from that if you joined one of these firms. GIC does have a fund of funds group that does co-invest so it’s a little less clear which team is evaluating which deals but I am certain they have a direct investments team that is working on deals with other GPs.
The Canadian pension funds (Maple 8) have a handful who are similar in style to what I described but as of late some have decided to potentially step back in the direct/co-invest philosophy so you may start to see these players wind down their investment teams.
AlpInvest (Carlyle), Ardian, HarbourVest and Lexington are the larger players in the space and based in the NYC and Boston area to throw in some other names of funds that will isolate their teams into co-invest only (primary and secondary strategies have different investment teams members). These teams are good places to be if you are looking for high deal flow and larger co-invest checks since they all have really strong primary and/or secondary teams which can help drive deal flow and fundraise larger funds. Co-invest only funds can be writing small checks of $25 million and flex to $100+ million so someone with a $3 billion fund can be a leader and active in the space which these four funds are pretty much all hovering around for latest fund size.
Anyone have views on comp in the co-invest space? I am associate 1 in NYC at a smaller co-invest shop with TC $235
$225 aso 1 not nyc but smaller shop.
ASO1 comp $165 all in at a larger co-invest heavy shop in ‘24. The other numbers quoted on this chain seem high based on friends who left for other shops as well.
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