What is WSO's take on some of the Debt funds in Chicago? What is the career path like? Skills that one would obtain working at one vs traditional buyside? Will I become the queen/king of debt? Thoughts on comp and hours?
Maranon Capital Hancock Capital Management Golub Midwest Mezzanine Funds Deerpath Capital
Others?
Bump
Maranon, Golub and Deerpath are all solid, but the latter are primary senior/unitranche lenders. Just understand the difference between that and mezz.
Monroe, Madison Capital Funding, Prudential, Gladstone are also good, active names to target.
Any insights into Monroe capital?
Monroe is an okay firm according to my friend who used to work there. Sounds like it used to be better, but more hardos recently.
bump
Bump - Learned some new info, many debt funds don't kick out people after their associate stint and will promote without an MBA. Looking at the debt story vs the equity story is the biggest difference against traditional buyside, but many of the firms you listed also invest mezzanine and equity so you get both experiences. You won't be making any operational improvements/changes at a debt shop. Comp is slightly lower all-in than traditional buyout depending on the fund, but still very competitive as they recruit primarily IB analysts. If you enjoy looking at capital structure and finding the optimal leverage and pricing debt, then it should definitely be something to look into. Hours are not bad average of 55-60, with the occasional 70-80 hour week when deals are closing.
What kind of comp (base + bonus), on average, are we looking at for 1st year associates at these types of funds?
For chicago, i would imagine 150-200k all in. Split probably ranges from 50/50 to 2/3 base 1/3 bonus
I would actually say higher, a few of these programs have analyst programs (golub, Ares) that are paying $120-$150, so associate pay would be $200+, Ares pays first year associates $225-250k
Very interesting on the non MBA part. + 1sb
What is the work like at the analyst/associate level? Is it a lot of pitching or more live deal work? I'd assume a lot of the work entails estimating EV since these are cash flow based loans, along with structuring the debt?...
Depends on the firm and the different strategies they provide, but from an analyst/associate role it would be sending back signed NDA’s, screening new CIM’s that come in from sponsors or investment banks, providing a leverage and pricing read based on various components, screening through investment committee if leverage/pricing is competitive, issuing a term sheet, going through various due diligence processes, management presentations, etc. and finally screening at a final investment committee, portfolio work is also apart of analyst/associate work, monitoring current investments/add-ons and modeling at various stages with a specific focus on free cash flow generation rather than IRR and MOIC
Antares and Ares Direct Lending both have offices in Chicago as well
Anyone know what headhunters these firms tend to use?
Connect Search is one
Found three more: Northleaf Capital - spinout of CIBC. Barings, and Adams Street Partners have an arm.
any info on hcm?
Sorry to bump an old thread- do these funds follow the same timeline for recruiting as PE firms do? Also does one have to be in a LevFin group to recruit for a buy side debt shop? Or do coverage bankers also see opportunities?
Any insight on deerpath? Do they generally higher IB analysts so pay is higher?
Never got an interview from the HH, my coworker applied as well and same thing 2 years ago. So no salary info
F
HIG Whitehorse is another one
Bump on the timeline - is it like PE, where you are recruiting 2-3 months into the job, or is it a bit later than that?
Private credit is a lot less rigid than PE in terms of recruiting. You'll see far more diverse backgrounds and people tend to pivot on different timelines. If you get dialed in with the right recruiters then you'll get a private credit role pitched to you at least once a month.
How easy / possible is it to get into private credit from a MM (think Stifel, RJ, Lincoln)? Is it possible to get into a solid shop from one of those places, or would it be better to jump to a higher rated bank for FT?
Had an offer from one of these groups in Chicago that I ultimately turned down, but comp was competitive at ~$220K all-in as a first year associate. Recruiting was more off-cycle - I recruited about 12 months after I joined banking and had an offer about 3 months later to start the following spring. It went through a recruiter, if I remember correctly it was HSP for the group I was talking to.
I came from a leveraged finance background at a MM bank so should definitely get some looks with MM Midwest banking background
How much of a disadvantage will I be at coming from an industry group versus someone from a LevFin group? The team I will be joining is largely doing sponsor to sponsor sell-sides, so that should help out some I would think?
I think you should be fine if you are looking at sponsored deals. In the interview process, you will be required to understand different slices of the cap structure and how to model them, which may be the one piece you will have to spend time prepping
220 all in is great in Chicago. Gotta be one of the top paying buyside gigs aside from mdp, gtcr, bdt
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