Mid/senior level PE - at a crossroads
Curious to get folks' thoughts here as I have read and received some great advice in these forums over the years. This might be covered in bits and pieces across other threads but here we go.
Long story short I have been at a LMM sector focused fund for 8-9 years. Not pure play PC, buyout, or GE but we will do all the above within our space. I'm the rung below partner, and there isn't really a history of anyone getting promoted to partner here. Mercurial founding partner, strategy changes a lot, kept intimating things would improve and then they don't, etc. The firm has been and continues going in a direction that I'm increasingly uncomfortable with. I won't list the issues all out but they range from (i) improper use of AI (i.e., more reliant on AI agents than on investment professionals, including for making actual decisions if you can believe it) to (ii) IMO untenable general investment strategy to (iii) increasinly murky comp structure / business planning, and much more. In a nutshell if I were a potential LP and knew this stuff I'd say "WTF" and not invest.
I've led and built a couple of our firm's most successful and thematic-driven control investments (not yet exited but would be phenomenal outcomes in our sector and "case studies" for future fund raises) yet this goes largely unnoticed. And my sub sector coverage responsibility is in a space that feels inherently less aligned with where our firm's investment focus is trending so sourcing new actionable opps feels increasingly like an uphill battle, despite my network I've built. If you're asking "why haven't you left yet" well the answer is "because of the aforementioned portcos that I want to see through and because there was always an inkling of hope that things would improve." Well, they haven't, and enough is enough.
So here we are. I'm miserable, I'm pretty sure our juniors are all leaving soon, and I likely am going to seek an amicable departure by year end. Life's too short to be this unhappy. Carry is vested in three funds plus a couple other vehicles... and the older funds where that's applicable are going to have some banger exits in the next several years. I.e., I will make some decent $$ from my time here starting as early as next year and over the course of the next decade or so.
But here's my issue: I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to really network effectively. Shame on me for not getting in front of this years ago when I started seeing the cracks form, but it is what it is. One of my portcos (where I'm closely involved) knows I'm unhappy and I may try to go there in a strat fin / corp dev capacity to help see them through exit. Otherwise I'm going to be starting from scratch, recruiting wise.
My questions are:
- At this point in my career, is it crazy to go to a portco if I'd like to keep the door to investing open in the future? My gut says that operating experience can be valuable especially if in the relevant industry. Or maybe I realize that working at a fund isn't what I want, and after exiting the portco I do my own thing.
- I do like investing, and have done a combo of PC, PE, GE. Unfortunately, this story is a tough one for any pure play shop i.e. headhunters won't be much help so this would be good ol' fashioned networking and finding a firm with whom my experience resonatess and/or they want my to build a vertical out in my sector. Does having focused on a sector for 8-9 years pretty much limit me, industry wise?
- Recruiting without a job -- how crazy is this? I feel like my ego and some deep seated insecurities make it feel a lot worse than it actually is and if you're pretty senior then it's not as uncommon as one would think.
- Lastly, I don't live in NYC but rather a city with a limited PE landscape. I don't plan on moving as my life is here, kids in school, etc. What are folks' experiences with hybrid roles at senior levels (i.e. 2-4 days in office at least in the short/medium term)?
Long rant, kind of all over the place, but curious if anyone is or has been in the same situation and has thoughts. Thanks!
If finding the job wasn’t actually an issue, what do you want to do? Do you want to invest or operate? How would this change if geo wasn’t relevant?
OP here. Fair question. The reality is that all I have ever done is invest (other than my initial IB stint out of undergrad), be it private credit or what we're doing in my current seat. This was the first job where I worked this closely with portcos as a "hands-on board director" on things like strategy, raising debt and equity, M&A origination/negotiation/execution, rebranding, CEOs' "consiglieri," etc.
So there's a curiosity around being "on the inside" at a company, and it'd be awesome to see a company I've helped build through to exit from the perspective of an insider. The question for me is "what would come after that" but I also think that (brace for a hippy comment) life has a way of taking you on a cool journey if you let it.
My favorite thing about investing is building and working with functional management teams to accomplish a goal and being responsible for good outcomes for LPs. (I take that second point extremely seriously!)
So the answer to your question is something like both and/or either. But with the caveat that I'd prefer to test the operating thesis first on a company I know well and there's a pathway to exiting. (I am aware that "both or either" is a big no no these days as everyone expects one to be super focused -- I just have a limited frame of reference as I've only been in advising / investing roles.)
Some quick thoughts. Ignore title.
Recruiting is crap right now - I wouldnt leave unless I had something else lined up. I know a colleague that was a principal with a strong track record (effectively a partner without the title) that left his seat (because of no upward mobility) and has not been able to land a principal role for basically two years since leaving.
Circling back, it sounds like the portco gig is what you want but you’re nervous that you’re losing optionality or closing a door, so you’re trying to justify staying in investing.
Go scratch the itch (with a proven entity, to your point), then see where life takes you.
It sounds like you don’t want to move and there aren’t even other investing opportunities nearby, so decision is even clearer.
Agree wouldn’t leave your current gig until you secure the next.
Great thought process/clarity in that post. My two cents:
Thanks for the post… on the junior side myself but it’s helpful to hear how folks down the road think of their careers
Re: recruiting - anyone a decade in their career should have a network of counterparts who know you from working across from you. Bankers, lawyers, competitors, LPs. This is how you get a new job. Less interviewing and more just calling around to people you have worked with / for. I am a few years ahead of you but when something opens up in my space that is interesting I usually have people that ask if I am interested in coming in to meet the team because I am a known quantity and they want me to work with them and not against them.
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