I was recently promoted to VP at my firm. We have a few VPs, and 4-5x as many principals as VPs. The partners level has a similar number of people (as principals) and our fund is not growing 2x in the next 3 years to make up for every principal to become a partner.
My question is, has anyone seen situations like this play out and how will it likely (or likely not) affect me?
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You are thinking about it the right way - ability for fund to grow/add new products and your ability to move up.
What is management’s view on career progression? If they don’t have a plan then they will see churn at the VP level.
I haven't directly asked but have heard it along the lines of "trust us we'll find you a position". It has some truth to it as people in the past were indeed moved to different product groups (i.e. credit, midmarket fund etc.). That said, also seen others just leave.
A little more context would help.
Has your firm traditionally operated with only a few VPs and many more Principals and Partners?
Or was there just a recent exodus in VPs?
What’s the current fundraising plan?
How many senior associates are up for VP promotion next year?
Is your firm actively recruiting external VPs?
What’s the junior team composition look like?
How much AUM?
How are VPs and Principals staffed?
I think generally this is a strange team layout…but really depends.
Yes, there were more VPs before but those all got promoted so larger ranks of principals and fewer VPs now. Also we don't have a strict up or out so some principals have been here 5+ yrs. Current fundraising plan is ~20% larger than last fund. Just me promoted to VP this year (not sure next year plan...). Associate count slightly more than the number of principals... staffing really depends on the deal but generally partner + principal or VP + associate. For AUM, let's just say UMM category for the safety of not being identified.
It clearly is a bad situation for the principals. Could there be a case where this doesn't really affect me? Since I'm a new VP, by the time I want to get promoted to partner, these principals will either have left or became partner??
I actually don't think you're in a terrible situation, all things considered. Especially due to the fact that you won't generally be staffed with Principals, you'll be able to carve out a name for yourself. And in 3-5 years when you're up for promotion, the Principal population at your firm could look radically different than what it is now.
This 100% affects the current Principals more because there's so much more competition between your peers for very few Partner roles and also the ability to stand out.
Doesn't seem like a good situation for you, unless you think there's going to be a mass exodus of principals in the near future. Your upside is going to be very limited if your fund isn't growing or hitting its returns.
That is an ABSURD ratio of Principals and Partners to VPs, and is absolutely unworkable for anyone at VP rank. I would plan to GTFO in 2-3 years and shoot for Principal elsewhere, because moving from Principal to Partner here is also unrealistic. Who the f*ck let this situation evolve??? Sounds comically inept.
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