PE funds and private jets?
Does anyone's fund regularly use PJs to get around? I was chatting with a friend who is an associate at a MM fund ($3Bn AUM) that regularly flies to portfolio company board meetings, meetings with prospective acquisitions, etc. on their private jet (the whole deal team including associates). Is this an outlier or is this pretty common in PE?
Dunno about PE but the VC firm that bought me out of a position has a private jet with only around $1B in AUM. I don't really get how the math works.
Man, if only I could short private funds. How can they call themselves fiduciaries? FFS
The jet probably burns IQ instead of fuel
A lot of the upper MM funds fly private so they can get to that little industrial company in Alabama and home in one day.
Middle of nowhere = discount!
Relocate HQ for a higher exit multiple
Some firms use them because as others have mentioned, they aren't too much more expensive than 1st class refundable tickets and are much more convenient.
My firm thinks its a bad look. Can generate an awkward conversation with the public pension LP that has a $100M commitment to your fund and you are swanning around on the PJ when his firm policy is always fly coach. You look ridiculous when you go to the portco CEO and say you need to cut costs...when you just arrived in the jet and are charging it back to the company.
Different strokes, but appearances are maybe more important than saving the 3 or 4 hours flying private instead of commercial.