Least Prestige Whore PE Funds

Looking for thoughts on which funds are the least focused on target undergrad / etc. Some that come to mind are Apollo, THL, Vista, etc. Prestige whore examples include The Jordan Company, GTCR, etc.

Thanks!

7 Comments
 

This is true, yes, but for every state school / non-target (also factor in diversity, you will likely see a higher proportion of diversity candidates from these schools), there are also 5 Wharton/Harvard/other top target, and/or Tier 1 bank analyst to associate.

 

Absolutely. Just to address OP's point earlier, specifically to some firms mentioned:

Apollo seemingly does not care about MBA, faster promotion than most peer PE firms, and from what people say about the culture, it's mainly "can you make it" -- regardless of what school you came from. Doesn't matter if all you have is a Michigan Ross BA or a Stanford BA + HBS MBA.

Vista has an analyst program which feeds into most of their associates, and by recruiting them out of undergrad, there is a much higher pool of schools, compared to just IB analysts (which will definitely be skewed towards "better" schools).

"Prestige whore" firms such as GTCR are often rooted in the grounds of "old school, suit and tie" private equity back in the 80s and 90s, and as such, it is ingrained into the firm's culture, making them much more reluctant to hire less "prestige"

 

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