11 Comments
 
Best Response

I'd guess this varies significantly from firm to firm. At my LMM PE internship, the biz dev group focused on building relationships with potential acquisitions (bolt-on or platform). New relationships could be developed either through personal connections, conferences, or cold-calling. The junior guy's job was literally to cold-call companies in our target industries all day, often without much idea of a given company's revenue or profitability - this job sounded terrible and probably paid less than $75k. The senior traveled a good amount to conferences/trade shows and built up relationships to essentially hand off to the investment team. I'm not certain of her pay scale.

I can't really speak to exit opportunities beyond saying that I highly doubt these roles transition well to investment positions. As I said, this could be much different at other firms, particularly at larger PE shops. Hope that helps!

 

IBS310, sorry there are no responses yet. Maybe one of these topics can point you in the right direction:

More suggestions...

If those topics were completely useless, don't blame me, blame my programmers...

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 
mensmario1984

Wanted to ask those in the industry. How difficult is it to get in a PE business development role? what are the common skill sets and requirements?

Thanks in advance

Given there aren't that many of them, probably very difficult. Most in that role have some prior experience in PE/IB/Consulting from my experience.

The biggest skill is someone that is sociable. You are going to be on the phone constantly "catching up" with investment bankers and trying to drum up deal flow. You will be networking hard and assisting in marketing at various events across the country.

 

Est provident animi omnis neque fuga. Velit autem quisquam sit temporibus possimus.

Corporis et asperiores voluptas odit excepturi quis. Non rem dolores iste eum. Expedita quasi culpa quia amet distinctio.

Deleniti dolorem voluptates occaecati. Ratione et sunt odit nisi voluptatem cumque. Molestiae quia voluptas a aut asperiores porro. Ut qui ex ad iure.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.6%
  • Blackstone Group 99.3%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Vista Equity Partners 98.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Blackstone Group 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.2%
  • The Riverside Company 98.9%
  • Ardian 98.5%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.3%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • Vista Equity Partners 98.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (98) $365
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (104) $281
  • 2nd Year Associate (235) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (411) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (97) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (272) $124
  • Intern/Summer Associate (38) $81
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (355) $62
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”