Joining an up-and-coming private equity fund as an analyst?
Current sophomore at a target here. Have a couple offers at top banks in hand and am still in a couple more processes. I am considering trying to get interviews at up-and-coming funds like Cove Hill, Arcline, etc. Is it worth it to join as an analyst at these places or would I be better suited doing the standard top IB - UMM/MF PE and coming in as a senior associate or VP at a growing shop.
Strongly recommend going the banking to UMM/MF route first. The legitimacy those two steps give you will help you in spades down the line - top BB + known PE firm will get you an interview anywhere even years from now. Head to a growing shop as VP or beyond, when you will actually get meaningful carry.
The experience at MM firms is also variable, you don't get the same regimented training program that BBs provide.
Best advice I can give you is that you're in a great position to consider such a role because you have a ton of time to do DD and speak to everyone at the fund/current analysts vs IB analysts who have 24 hours to make a decision.
While the poster above is right that the traditional 2+2 is a much safer route, I've also seen a tremendous amount of burnout in this industry and if you really want to be an investor, some of these funds can honestly be a better choice to build a long-term career in investing. However, if you just want to preserve optionality then yeah definitely go do IB.
I'd rather start off at a MF then move down market
Can't speak for those specific shops but I've seen cases where newer shops (fund I/II) bring in UMM/MF talent for the name and completely screw over existing juniors.
Case in point I work at a MF and have been offered a VP role for a $750m fund II (I've done the typical 2+2 IB/PE) while their current associates probably need to do at least a combined 3-4 years of associate + sr. associate to make VP.
Banking > MF then look to optimize.
Actually know Cove Hill well and think they’re an awesome shop, but like everyone else has said it’s really hard to start smaller and go upstream.
If you start at a Cove Hill type fund, you’ll likely end up in MM or LMM PE down the road. Basically impossible to go from a MMPE shop to MF or UMM, whereas the other way is a much more tried and true path.
Only counter argument is if a place is growing fast there is probably more room for promotion and more comp upside in the long run, but you’re definitely giving up optionality.
Thoughts on Cove Hill? Would you rather join a shop like Cove or an UMM fund as an associate?
Depends what I was looking for. I spent some time with them in oncycle but ended up at a bigger fund just for branding, but I think Cove Hill is great.
If I had to guess their next fund will be substantially larger and their returns are ridiculously good. They clearly know what they’re doing and would think they’re probably as good as you can get in MMPE
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