MF/UMMs with a half decent Work/Life
I know going to a MF or UMM firm ($3bn+ fund) means you aren’t going to have the best WLB compared to some MM/LMMs but what are some firms that may not suck like Apollo is notorious for
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Pretty hard to generalize across MF PE especially for firms that have verticals (KKR, Warburg, Carlyle, etc) as it will really be team dependent. Generally speaking they’ll all suck from a WLB perspective, just to varying degrees
That’s a fair point. Do you know of any groups that are particularly good/bad?
Through what I've heard from others and my personal experience with recruiting, Bain Capital seems to be one of the better ones out there. Still no WLB, but best of the worst?
Your work life balance is heavily weighted towards work early on in life at these firms with the intent being to achieve retirement very early (or be self sufficient or whatever). I’d be shocked if any MF/UMM are fewer than 65 hours a week. I’m at a MF and I’m lucky if I’m ever under 70. Sustainable? TBD. Making money? Ohhhhhhhhh yeah.
When you say 70+, is that 9-11 M-F, or a lot of weekend work? Is your schedule more predictable than IB? Frankly 70 doesn’t seem horrible if it’s heavily week heavy
I say 70+ and I don’t really count. It’s wfh so I take some time to eat and workout when there’s no fire drill (almost always is), but I’m at my desk by 8am and working till 10/11 at least Monday-Thursday. Weekend work is anywhere from a few hours each day to weekend benders. And the work is very intense and stressful. It’s very hard, but worth it to me.
And sorry for not addressing everything you asked. I did not do IB and instead lateraled from a MM PE shop after 2.5 years out of school. My schedule is not predictable at all, but that’s because of my MD. Other groups and offices at my firm have better hours and balance. It’s very dependent on senior management as I’m sure you experience or have seen in IB. But again, I’d echo how stressful the actual work can be. My 65 hour work weeks in MM PE were nothing compared to the intensity at the MF.
Not to hijack the threat, but want to add further information for everyone wanting to know about the hours, my VPs and Partner work around the clock too. Our team is only 7 and it’s crazy to see people in they’re late thirties and forties grinding like this. The compensation is obviously highly motivating!
Montagu has pretty decent WLB with people typically doing 50-60h weeks and ~80h during live deals.
Is comp materially lower since the hours are lighter?
Nope, actually on par or higher than other funds. Guess they manage to make a killing without having juniors burn out
Would argue any mega fund private credit firm will have somewhat equal pay to top end pe firms with much better wlb. They’re hard seats to come by but great gigs if you can get them.
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