Energy PE Recruiting

In my experience, about half of the "pure" Energy funds (primarily based in Texas) do NOT use a headhunter, and actually rely much more heavily on references (through existing Investment Professionals' connections or via surveying their colleagues at the various top tier energy IBs for a short list of analyst candidates that they might recommend). I won't delve as much into the MF Energy space, except by saying that the only teams that seem like they will be active and/or looking to grow and deploy substantial capital over the next few years are Apollo, Warburg and BX (unsure about Carlyle). Warburg and Blackstone are actively fundraising new energy funds. KKR (Real Assets)/TPG have had some struggles and I'm not aware of any plans to raise new money as of late. Bain doesn't really do Energy.

In terms of large-cap funds: EnCap, NGP, Quantum, Riverstone, ECP (last two have P&U in addition to Energy) are all doing well at the moment, at least from the standpoint of a prospective Associate who's looking to enter the space and potentially stay with the firm from a short-medium term. Quantum and EnCap have both recently raised massive funds and NGP is also in the process of raising a new fund. ArcLight, EIG and BlackRock are more infrastructure-focused but also worth considering. As the poster above mentioned, First Reserve has really struggled as of late. I don't think it's a deal breaker but it is something to keep in mind.

There are some solid names across the $500 MM to ~$2 Bn fund space that are expanding/deploying capital and could have more clear cut opportunities for longer-term seats: The various NGP-spin offs (Edge, Pearl, Carnelian), Post Oak, Juniper Capital (very active lately, backing new companies), Waterous' fund (some ex-KKR guys have left to head over there), Kayne Anderson, Lime Rock, Old Ironsides, Tailwater (mainly midstream), EIV (also midstream). I've heard secondhand that Denham has had some issues (culture, sub-par realizations). I'm pretty sure TPH Partners has not been very active.

• a slate of other firms that have dedicated energy teams but are not exclusively focused on the space: Trilantic, Ares, Ridgemont, Pine Brook, Castlelake (I think they're winding down their energy focus though), MS Capital Partners... I'm sure I'm forgetting a few others.

Pay will generally be very competitive across the spectrum, and likely in line with other "industry-focused" funds, such as in the TMT or Consumer space. Obviously, I don't know the specifics for each fund but I'm going off of what I've heard from colleagues and gathered when going through recruiting.