Hi All - looking for some insight on the associate experience at Huron Capital based in Detroit (huroncapital(dot)com) -It would be really helpful to know what type of experience associates at the firm get and what general consensus is on the firm. Curious if there is any semblance of work life balance or if it is banking 2.0. I saw a few people on LinkedIn who left the associate role before they had 2 years of experience so trying to figure out if there is anything driving people out of the firm.
thanks
Comments (35)
My understanding is culture is extremely bad from friends who have worked there. They have since gone to other PE shops where they note the culture is much better.
There is a few other shops (not pure buyout) in Detroit that can do super interesting deals that I would check out.
Fontinalis I would assume would be super interesting.
Rockbridge I would assume may be very well funded to do some really interesting stuff with Dan Gilbert's new found 30b.
There's also a couple people in the Michigan area I could see launching shops in the next couple years which I would think wouldn't have trouble fundraising.
Can you speak a bit more on why they said their experience was poor. I'm from Michigan and it's the largest shop in the state so was interested in potentially coming back post banking, so this is quite interesting to hear.
Thanks for the replies. I am also interested in more details on negative culture. If better we can PM. Thanks
From MI as well. Huron culture is toxic, fund performance is not strong. Other MI funds include Peninsula, O2, and Blackford Capital (not great either). Quite a few MI people in the IB / PE scene all competing for the few spots in the state that are respectable: MI > NYC, LA, SF, CHI for the long term....
Thanks - What is your source? Are you 100% sure on what you mentioned relating to culture and fund performance? Pitchbook lists Fund V IRR at 16.91% which is pretty solid.
Have also heard bad things about blackford. Do you have any thoughts on O2, saw they just raised a new fund.
Positive on Huron performance. Have good insight into Fund III and IV, both
The two partners are younger and pretty good guys. But, the two most senior guys still call the shots and I found to be less enjoyable.
What have you heard about Blackford? Seems like most of their associates don't even really come from IB and that they don't have a committed fund?
very anecdotal, but heard from a former employee i networked with that senior people were really shitty and rude
Nothing positive. Pretend to compete in auctions, are not legit buyers for deals over $4mm EBITDA IMO. Junior guys turn over frequently. I think they do have a very small committed fund (Fund I was $50mm, not sure if they could raise a second but they were trying).
Deal by deal fundraising model and have a blind pool fund now but the LP base is retail money. I'd avoid.
What's a blind pool fund? Also when you say retail LPs, do you mean they're going down a list of accredited doctors/lawyers to pick up pieces of the equity for each deal they win?
Deal by deal model: PE firm doesn't have discretionary capital so they find a deal and then pitch that deal to investors for funding. The investor has no "blind pool" risk as they know what deal the PE sponsor is buying into.
blind pool model: the standard in PE. A firm goes out to institutional investors and raises discretionary capital to spend within their fund. It's a 'blind pool' for investors as they don't yet know the specific companies which are going to be acquired.
By retail I mean they: 1. Can't attract institutional capital (foundations, endowments, pensions, etc) and onboard small cheques from high net worths and 2. Partner with a wealth management firm where advisors load in like 25-150k cheques from high net worth clients - seen as "dumb money" in the industry.
Saw Center Rock is raising good sized Fund II. Offices in Chicago and Detroit.
TIL there's PE in Detroit.
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I don't understand why posters are being so aggressive regarding people noting that Hurons culture is bad. . .
Who's being aggressive?
There's two people who have asked for sources when the commentary was that it's a toxic culture. I mean I know there's a process going on for Huron but . . .
Your response does not make sense
any idea of comp at huron? According to 2019 gobuyside comp report, comp is ~190 all in for funds at that size. Does this sound right for huron?
Bump
Bump - The firm is looking to hire a few associates for Summer '22. Anyone have an idea on comp range, culture, life in the most glorious city in America (Detroit)....
This past year they did 6 platform deals and 27 add ons, all with 3 associates (1 aso and 1 senior aso left during the year). That sounds like you're going to worked really hard. If its any indication of culture, I think most of their associates have left before the 2 year mark.
yeah this is all true
They underwent a process around two years ago with Sixpoint to do a NAV loan. They for some reason asked Sixpoint to tap the secondary market to see if funds would be interested....pretty much every credit shop said they needed like 12% and they were like that's in the ballpark. Wasted everyone's time with DD for 3 weeks and then gave the deal to a bank for 6 percent lol. I got the vibe that no one on the mgmt team knew what they were doing.
Friend worked there and said work/life balance and culture was good. Lots of activity but highly resourced. Comp in-line with market which translates well bc cost of living in Detroit is a fraction of NYC/LA/CHI. Most people leave bc of Detroit factor. They also had a few home-run exits recently
Has this changed over the years? Seems like everyone here is saying pretty bad culture. I don't know how management has changed, but I know a lot of people in IB/PE aside from at Huron so I may reach out and see there thoughts as well.
If you're interviewing at Huron and want to chat, feel free to PM
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