Currently at an EB and have been getting absolutely wrecked for the past two years. At this point I’ve completely lost my sense of what normal working hours look like.
Everyone says PE has a better lifestyle, but how true is that in practice? Is it actually meaningfully better, or is it more of a “slightly less bad” situation?
Would love to hear from people who have made the move.
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Based on the most helpful WSO content, the lifestyle in private equity (PE) can be better than investment banking (IB), but it heavily depends on the firm, its size, and the team culture. Here's a breakdown:
General Lifestyle in PE:
Firm Size and Culture Matter:
Comparison to IB:
Key Takeaway:
Ultimately, PE can offer a better lifestyle, but it's not a guaranteed escape from long hours and high expectations.
Sources: Best lifestyle PE firms in terms of hours work, comp/size doesn't matter, Private Equity shops with the best work/life balance, Investment Banking to Private Equity - 6 Things You Should Know
It’s more predictable and the absolute hours are a bit lower but the actual work is significantly harder / more mentally involved. This is both a good thing (you will learn way more than you ever could in IB) and a bad thing (your individual stress level will be much higher).
I would still do PE for at least 1 year if you have an offer as it is incredible professional training and opens up a different set of doors both in other investing roles and in corporate but it absolutely comes at a cost to your mental and physical health.
Make sure you take a vacation at the end of your time in IB and go into PE refreshed and ready to go.
Given fundraising struggles / lowered returns across many funds, would you still make the “do it for 1 year at least, if you have an offer” argument or is there a cutoff in fund quality/trajectory when staying in IB for less stress and more money is the path?
Yes - in PE you learn excellent project management skills and to drive things from point A to B with significantly less supervision. This is true of working on deals and portco work. You will not develop that skill in corporate until you’re fairly senior. You will also be doing lots of science projects on portco financials that, while feeling pointless at the time, start to teach you how to really dissect a business and understand its drivers and where to look to find problems in businesses. You are also expected to be mentally engaged and paying attention to everything and having a real analytical perspective on the work you’re doing - you’d be shocked how many people in corporate / IB just fill out templates mindlessly and don’t know what they’re doing. In PE you’re expected to have mastery of literally everything you touch - and that is an extremely strong skill / best practice to develop. Finally, for people in corporate who know what PE is - it is an absolute differentiator and will get you looks for much more senior roles much sooner. I am personally pretty senior in corporate and ex-PE and have an extremely strong bias towards hiring people with PE backgrounds.
That all said, it is an extremely miserable and stressful job so just remember all of this comes with a price. If it’s worth it to you is your call.
It really depends on the fund. MF buyout? No, WLB may be even worse + harder hours given difficulty of work. A decently performing LMM fund in the South/California? Could literally be 40-50 hours. I have friends at both with those hours.
In my experience it has been worse. I went from an RX group to a MF. Both are terrible but PE has been considerably more stressful, less predictable, and more hours overall. Non-live deal hours may be slightly better than banking, but live deal sprints in PE are probably the worst thing I have ever experienced. 100hr weeks of stressful work for months on end, multiple times a year. Depression inducing. I am trying to get out. This job seriously sucks and it’s not worth it all anymore with the stagnation in pay and longer / less likely promotion timelines.
What are you targeting with your exit? What comp you targeting too?
Probably MM / LMM PE in a t2/t3 city. Tired of NYC and big fund culture. Need a change. Have been doing this for almost 7 years now and very burnt out. Willing to take a cash comp haircut but will push for carry
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