Curious as to how many on cycle seats exist in NYC at >$1bn funds. Am mostly thinking buyout as not sure if many non-buyout funds do on cycle. Saw someone say 800 and someone say 300 but thats a pretty big difference.
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Based on previous WSO threads, there isn't a definitive number provided for on-cycle seats in NYC at >$1bn buyout funds. However, the range you've mentioned (300 to 800 seats) reflects the variability in estimates shared by users. The discrepancy likely arises from differences in how people define "on-cycle" and which funds they include in their count (e.g., strictly buyout vs. including growth equity or other strategies).
If you're targeting buyout funds specifically, the larger funds like KKR, Blackstone, Bain Capital, and others typically dominate the on-cycle process, but exact seat numbers are not explicitly detailed in the WSO content.
Sources: List of all Buyout UMM/MF PE Shops in NYC, Impact Funds Oncycle Recruiting?, Q&A - Offcycle offer from UMM fund ($9bn latest fund size), ON CYCLE 2023 PUSHED
Closer to 150 for my year (2022) for pure buyout; last year was sub-100, this year is probably somewhere in the middle given the increasing shift to more off-cycle hiring and analyst programs over time. Am only talking about control buyout PE so excludes hybrid players or special situations or growth. It's much fewer than this forum of mostly interns and analysts would have you think simply because 1) only the largest funds go and 2) firms almost never fill their entire class on-cycle (rest of the seats are either analyst programs or off cycle).
If you think let's say 120 filled and there are 800 total spots at funds >1B, when do you think the rest would be filled?
Thinking maybe 300 total in Q1 2026, 200 in Q2 2026 which marks the completion of first year. And then rest 300 filled throughout the second year
No idea; off-cycle goes in waves but also as needs arise. I think number is probably ~100 as a mid-range of last-year and my year. My year had more MM's go than seemingly this year and that's generally been a trend for on-cycle recruiting. The funds in the 1-4bn size almost never go on-cycle and there are more 1-4bn funds than 10bn+ (who mostly at least run a process). I am at a 15bn+ fund that went on-cycle, but we left more than half of our associate class hiring for off-cycle for instance.
Co 2024 / 2026 Associate start was much lower. 70 offers given out that on cycle
Co 2025 / 2027 Associate start is probably 100-120 (guessing)
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