Starting a thread for anyone in / looking to break into London secondaries.
Both from the advisory and buyside.
Topics for discussion:
- Recruitment
- Transitioning from one side to the other
- Annual comp
- Different team cultures
- London in Europe
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Thoughts on HL London
Unsure how much they are doing. They acquired Triago but not an incumbent. Are you asking for entry level?
oh I meant Hamilton Lane, not Houlihan haha
Campbell Lutyens do a lot of hiring in the space
Bump does anybody have any recruiting materials they are willing to share ?
Currently work at a secondaries shop - lateralled from IB M&A. Happy to answer any qns
Couple of questions below
Do you focus on GP or LP led?
Do you generally see the space as getting overcrowded or are there typically only a few parties chasing the deals you are going after ?
How is your WLB?
How has your expericence been so far and are you glad you decided to lateral to secondaries versus primaries ?
a) GP Led
b) depends - im on 5 CV deals atm and only 2 are with true trophy assets ie single asset CVs. For these, we have had to be careful wrt the prospective LPs we go out to as the typical traits of the trophy asset means the LPs will then begin comparing like for like opportunities; turning it into a buyers market where they can choose the deals they want to pursue ie one deal or the other (in my case of the 2 trophy asset deals i am on). That said, there is enough variety to ensure a somewhat varied list of names every time (c50-75% of the LP lists are the same) When a deal is good, everyone will want a bite, when it is shit, no one will be interested - bit of herd mentality as buyers always ask "is there an anchor?" if they are on the fence
On the advisor front, the same usual suspects are in every process - EVR, CL, UBS are the main players but there other players like WB, Asante, Rede, MOE, LAZ, DC, HL etc that come in. My firm has a strong angle to win deals and so we rarely lose the bakeoffs we choose to enter. But on the whole, it is a pretty competitive market
c) WLB is ok - very little to no weekend work, but weekdays can be 4ams. That said, start time is like 8:30 and average leaving time for me is c. 10/10:30 and maybe another 30 mins of work when i get home (all in all, finish at around 12/12:30.
d) yh primaries is bullshit - basically an email machine and outsourced executive assistant. I couldn't give a fuck about scheduling some IR team's meetings and being an outsourced bitch tbh - secondaries is M&A lite - a deal focused environment with less sweat, better pay and still enough action to keep me coming back. That said, M&A was more 'fun' in the sense that you really were in the trenches but would come out with great experiences / learnings - primaries is not technical at all and after a fundraise, you have no real transferable skills to show for it. Secondaries is similar to M&A in the sense that you at least have something to show for your efforts and something transferable should you want to move to the buyside
Very helpful appreciate it. So assuming you are in the advisory side ?
How long do you see syndication taking? Despite the herd mentality, perceive it is very tough
Thanks for the useful answers. Curious to hear how you find the work in Secondaries advisory compared with M&A - do you think it's as interesting?
Your hours sound pretty long, would you you say they are typical of PCA or are you at a sweatier shop? And would say overall better hours than M&A?
Thanks
IMO secondaries is not as interesting as M&A - M&A is more dynamic, more technical, less process, big personalities, good intensity - but way more stress and a lot of intensity (which is also can be bad) etc. Deals are run the same as M&A eg there is a model (waterfall analysis) an IM, a VDR etc you still commission DD etc
PCA is sometimes an afterthought, as the PCA comes in after price has effectively been set (ie from the M&A) and so then its a discussion on GP roll and new vehicle commit in addition to discounts/premium for incoming LPs. So no real valuation work in secondaries, instead more so on structuring and negotiation. Opportunity for juniors to actually do a fair amount of work on a deal (I am for example working directly alongside the global heads of sectors for a MF atm) so that is good - lots of learning opportunities.
The main thing is that secondaries fees are far larger than M&A fees on a transaction eg a 100m deal in my former M&A shop (a tier 1 EU EB for my sector) would warrant a 2-3m fee. The same for my current secondaries firm would have a range of 4.5-10m and we would have co-invest opportunities. Getting paid more, for less work, less stress and greater learning opportunity at the cost of less transferable technical skills... In my eyes, as long as the shit exit environment with lagging valuations continues, secondaries will easily be my home (on the advisory side at least) for the next few years.
I think my hours are standard - its def not like a sweatshop given its significantly less than my previous M&A role
MF PE Analyst in London looking for a move in Secondaries here.
GS is the undisputed top dog in secondaries in London followed by BX, others are really miles behind as far as dealflow and returns go…
not too sure about GS being top dog - BX yh is a top player for sure. Alpinvest, Lexington, Neuberger, StepStone, Coller, Pantheon are all v good players too...
Curious to hear more, I based my comment on a mix of data from friends at the shops you mentioned and Pitchbook.
From what I’ve seen/heard, Alpinvest is doing a lot of LP led stuff, Neuberger has had issues deploying/raising Capital in EMEA and Lexington’s returns have been far from stellar…
Conscious that BX is also focusing on LP deals, meanwhile GS’ latest fund is marked at a 1.9x MoM/16% IRR
How is Hamilton Lane's reputation in London?
How are you all seeing comp progression? After your year 3/4/5, did what you get match expectations? Any places worth calling out for their practices?
im getting paid above street for my title on the base - lets see what bonus says come H1 26. Pay structure can be different though ie some PCAs offer co-invest alongside base and bonus
You mean investing in the CVs you advise on right? Wouldn’t you always take cash?
Did you negotiate this or just the shop? Do you feel like this has historically impacted your bonus because you have a higher base vs others in th team?
Would be interesting to see comp figures - got a friend at one of the PE shops mentioned above and would be keen to see salary ranges
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