Is due diligence (PE) a good career path?

So I have been reading a lot of PE related material to get a comprehensive understanding of the industry

This is when I learnt about Bain PEG, and learnt about commercial due diligence. It sounds interesting with a mixture of both PE and Consulting worlds.

So just wanted to ask if the only “reputable job with decent pay” except the general PE Associates/ VPs etc or are there other good roles within the PE industry itself (specifically due diligence)

Note: as of now deal sourcing sounds too much like a sales job so not interested, however if I am wrong please correct me

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PE in an investment role.

Bain PEG or similar ring fenced groups within consulting firms are not PE. They are consultants that work on CDD, which is one of many workstreams (other are legal, tax, due diligence, structuring etc) that a PE fund has to make an investment decision.

Working in either investment banking or management consulting can potentially lead to a job in PE.

 
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Diligence focused roles in private equity exist in PE "operating groups", which are basically groups of industry veterans and consultants that do a mix of diligence and portfolio company work. An operating group is different than just a group of operating partners, which most firms have, and will have a higher headcount, specializations, and hire consultants in addition to industry veterans. People with "strategy" in their title tend to be the ones that focus more on diligence vs portco work.

Not an expert so take my info with a grain of salt but I find the role fascinating since these groups both give and implement advice (unlike strategy consulting), gives experience actually operating a company (unlike deal teams), and focuses on the strategic side of investing/running a business, which I find far more interesting than building financial models and running investment processes.

Firms with large operating groups include: KKR, Blackstone, Cerberus, TPG, American Securities, Platinum Equity, etc. Generally most megafunds have operating groups but are small relative to the size of the firm as a whole, while the MM funds that do have groups will have a higher ratio of operators to investors. Id highly recommend reading the top comment on this post for more info: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/private-equity/how-to-break-into-…

 

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