Fundraising Role - Seeking Advice
I am an investment banking analyst at a middle market bank in coverage finishing my first year and I am seeking advice. I would very much like to break into the hedge fund / PE fundraising space at the end of my second or third year of banking. I know where my strengths and interests lie and feel that this is the right decision. Does anyone have any advice of how to break into this space? Additionally, would it be wise to try and take the CAIA while in the analyst role? Would it give me a leg up on the competition?
Thanks
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Not sure what the traditional way is but I've heard/seen people move into it from banking and FoF roles.
Here's a list of firms to look into that do fundraising:
Lazard, Moelis, Greenhill, Blackstone (Park Hill), UBS, Evercore, Sixpoint, Atlantic Pacific, Mercury, Forbes, Probitas, Hycroft, MVision
A lot of these units are not too big as well (ok at some of the banks they are sizeable). Do you have PE networks (or PE clients?) you can ask them who raises their capital, or look up their IR person and ask them. The top guys and IR people will know the placement folks. Email. They may not respond, but then you can call them. It's only 30 seconds. Try to set up a meeting. If that doesn't work, feel free to ask for names and assure them that you won't use their names (they might say its ok, they might not).
If that doesn't work, look up your pe clients and I bet that if they used placement agent money that it either on the agent's website, or in some PE media, since these guys (like any banker) will want to brag about their ability to raise capital and take a cut of it. You can use that as a start as well.
Remember that IR and placements are quite different. If you are placing you cover a group of products or geographies or both. You usually have a number of products that you are trying to raise for. There is also the origination vs distribution thing. Some teams sort of combine the two, but the origination guys try to source funds, get to know them, do DD, present the case to the internal team. Once the fund is chosen for the platform a lot of the work is desktop, from filling out DDQs, to further DD questions, information requests etc. The distribution side is just that. You may join in on some initial origination meetings and DD, but mostly you are on a plane all the time seeing investors, seeing what they want, trying to sell product.. eg. distribute.
IR on the other hand you usually have one product to work on (in most cases). And that's it. When you are not raising you have to keep investors informed of what's going on, collect data, listen in on deals and understand them (to talk to investors), maintain presentations, suss out other investors, build relationships, same with the agents, dealing with legal and compliance (this can be pretty tough...). Then when fundraising its all hands on deck. A number of things can be outsourced to the agent, but a lot of the data has to come from you, you're also running around, flying a lot etc.
Good Luck
I once worked with a small NY bank called Touchstone Group. They help lower middle market buyout funds raise capital and have a pretty big network. You may want to try and get a call in with one of their guys...
The one big big warning I will give the OP is that fundraising, placements/marketing is NOT the way to backdoor into PE and directs. I know of one guy who was at a good shop, went to get an MBA, interned for a former client he knew very well, and then went back to his shop to do the same thing. Others though...You've been warned.
This is a fairly outdated thread and my question is only slightly related BUT....does anyone know any good headhunters that specialize in PE fundraising / marketing? As discussed, a lot of these shops are smaller and I would imagine job opportunities would be "under the radar" so to speak. If anyone has used anyone or has general advice on the best way to source this opportunities please let me know.
Fundraising-like jobs (Originally Posted: 11/02/2012)
Hey everyone,
So my girlfriend currently works as an development officer at a prep school in nyc. She has been doing this for some time and has enjoyed it, but wants to branch out into other fields, namely something involving in the finance market...not necessarily front office buy side/sell side kind of gigs, but like investor relations, PR, etc.
however, i try to help her with career advice but i really just dont know what kind of careers in the finance industry would open doors to someone with her background.
does anyone here have any advice or know of somebody with a similar career path?
any input would be much appreciated, thanks guys
Check out einancialcareers, they usually have a lot of jobs for investor relations, mid office in buyside jobs, etc. Basically a lot of jobs related to finance but aren't the traditional front office job.
Some of the more attractive fund raising jobs are done by specialists or even those with heavy buyside experience since fundraising is usually a function of the partners at a PE/HF. However, there are entry level type positions where you are supporting a fundraising team which can be the first step for her.
Fundraising role without much work experience (pre-MBA) (Originally Posted: 10/07/2012)
Is there a way for someone without much work experience (pre-MBA) or straight-out-of-undergrad to obtain a fundraising/institutional sales role at HF or AM? Is it possible?
yes they do exist
do a linkedin search for "hot girl"
Pretty much this.
Most of the people I know who have roles like this are attractive, ~28-year-old girls from Ivy League schools.
So no chance for men in non-ivy-league schools?
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Most funds want to hire marketers with a network of prospective investors (family offices, consultants, FoFs). Being right out of undergrad you wont have any network to speak of so most funds wont consider you. However, there are some that will be interested in a young person to help support senior markets (updating pitch book, gather data, organize travel, combing through prospect list, manage CRM systems). If you earn their trust they may eventually allow you to make cold calls and sit in on meetings. From there you can become a full blown marketer over the course of a year or two.
Large funds will have the infrastructure in place to hire young people for these roles but don't expect to fly up the ranks there. Smaller funds will be more nimble / willing to consider an unproven young person.
A lot of things need to come together for this to work out (good fund performance, solid team that wants you to grow, macro factors, & alternative investment trends) but it certainly isn't impossible.
Thank you so much jbfcox! You're the best! This pretty much sums it up! My chances are, I must first break in as a "support"ing assistant as you call it. What you're saying is that smaller funds will more likely to consider me for these positions? Should I be cold calling since they don't have any dedicated openings for these? (or do they?)
Yes smaller funds are more likely to consider you. Cold calling probably wont work.
You should leverage your existing investment management / alternative asset network if you have one.Besides that, albourne village is a good source of direct HF listings and listings by head hunters. You should also look into other head hunters, search around. Glocap is a good place to start.
good luck
Thanks so much! I always thought that most headhunters only recruit experienced hires, but I guess not! Oh, also, do you know why cold calling or emailing wouldn't work? Thanks!!
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Anyone else? any opinion?
Marketer/fundraising role for exit options? (Originally Posted: 10/07/2012)
What do you guys all think of fundraising roles (hedge fund) or institutional sales roles (AM) for exit option after your IB gig?
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