Lifestyle PE Funds in NYC?
Fairly burnt out from IB after three years, and not really sure I'm ready to take a big pay cut and/or leave NYC for Corporate Development just yet, so giving PE a second thought. It seems like WLB can be a bit of a crapshoot even in the middle market / lower middle market space, so I was just wondering if anyone had any insight into more lifestyle oriented funds in the city? Have friends who made the jump from banking, and about half of them are working similar hours to banking while the other half seem to be enjoying significant improvement. Would just note that the ones with the least hours all seem to be outside NYC, for what that's worth. Appreciate any insight here.
Lifestyle PE fund in NYC is an oxymoron lol. One viable path is to join adjacent PE sub-verticals in NYC that provide much better WLB (40-60 hrs) with comp in line or slightly below the direct PE median. FoF/co-investing/secondary/private credit/growth equity/corporate development are such paths.
If you want to do direct PE in NYC you have to accept the long hours. If you love the industry but want better WLB then you have to leave NYC to a tier 2-4 city (PE in Chicago/LA is long hours too). If your desire to stay in NYC is more than your desire to stay in PE then I would suggest checking out one of the sub-verticals I listed above.