Feel like I work in PE, but it is not a "PE" firm. Can I consider this PE?

Very weird question I know and you guys probably think I am dumb. They do not advertise themselves as a PE fund at all, but the way my job works, how much I am paid, and my functions make me think I am literally working in PE. My role is just "associate". 

I did IB at a BB first, then recruited for this new firm I am at now. We work in a niche industry and what we do is acquire firms and roll them up together, and scale them. We don't acquire firms using leverage. My day to day are usually a lot of financial modeling, managing and providing support and strategy to our portfolio companies (constantly getting on calls with their CFO, CEO) and managing their M&A pipeline. If matters, my all in is around $220k. (Feel like that is PE numbers for comp, thats why I mention it. First year here.) 

I don't ask for ego purposes (I could care less), but more for my resume. I eventually want to pivot out of the industry and think having PE on my resume would make my profile stronger. 

Thanks all 

14 Comments
 

Some PE firms don’t want to call themselves PE since some owners don’t like that.  You can call your experience a private investment firm, which is basically the same. I’d also say the background of the seniors is relevant here, are they from PE?

 

I think you can spin it however you want. I assume you don’t have a committed fund (because if you do you’re obviously PE), but it still sounds like private investing to me…

 

I thought so if I was doing all of these mergers / buyouts and morphing them into our parent HQ company but instead we are rolling up our buyout portfolio companies together and controlling them and flipping them. Still Corp Dev though right? Is the only difference that we arent using leverage and we arent investing out of a "raised fund"?

 

I've interviewed for places like these. It sounds like a hybrid strategic / PE role (like Koch Industries Tech Innovation? / Cargill's strategic investments arm?) Know Standard Industries is a really well-respected one. I think a role like that is seen very similarly to PE (esp if the comp ladder mimics PE firms). I don't have enough datapoints to tell you what exits but think you're chilling (given you're relatively junior and you're doing pretty much all the same types of analyses) best of luck

 

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