Hello everyone - I currently work for a MM PE fund in NYC. Long and complicated story as to how I got here, but I am an Analyst in my second year and for various reasons I am looking to go back to Europe (from Germany here).
I was hoping to get some input from you all in terms of the following:
- PE Recruiting in Europe
- PE Funds to recommend (E.g. comp / carry / learning curve)
- What comp to expect?
- Work / Life Balance as compared to NYC
Appreciate I am asking a lot - so an answer on either is appreciated.
Best,
This is what I know:
Main headhunters: KEA, Blackwood, Cornell.. and then PER, Dartmouth Partners, Albert Cliff, Walker Hamill. Contact them on their websites and they will reach out for phone calls. Recruiting seems to happen at end-of-program marks and on as-needed basis (when vacancies arise) rather than in a super structured fashion like in the US. Since you are from Germany, the move should be pretty doable. I have seen several cases of MM > MM, UMM, MF lateral moves in Europe; just less dogmatic a market. I think US PE experience is well respected and regarded, and you will have a story about going back home. Big concern will be lack of European business knowledge but at least you have a local growing up perspective.
Firms: CVC and EQT are the biggest players, closely followed by Permira (older than EQT but smaller flagship today) and Cinven. Advent was originally a European fund only and remains a big European player. Carlyle (Akzo Nobel ~$10bn) , KKR (Unilever spreads ~$8bn) also have large separate Europe vehicles. Other firms of note: Ardian, Bridgepoint, PAI, Hg, BC, Triton. CVC is the OG shop - can't go wrong there. EQT just went public so increasingly becoming a force. Permira has shifted focus to the US somewhat, with the biggest deals happening in US technology. Cinven just did Thyssenkrupp with Advent, and has been in every major European auction reported publicly, so probably a firm to watch on its way to become EQT/CVC in Europe.
Triton is a big German-speaking-focused fund. CVC, Permira (TeamViewer, big German success story), Advent, Cinven all have Frankfurt offices. EQT seems to be in Munich.
Comp perhaps ~30% lower than US peers.
W/L reportedly materially better than US. Less capitalist society.
Top 3 Dogs are by FAR.: CVC, Advent, Cinven if you know the deals and returns they made.
Other US megafunds in Europe are very decent but just don’t come close in terms of returns for some reason (eg KKR, BX, Apollo etc).
Other fun facts: - HG is known for having a horrible culture, depending on which of the tech funds you go to (large, mid, lower)
BC Partners is the guy that had their ‘glory days’ in 2013 but quickly lost that rep when they absolutely blew up some deals (dunmen orange, phones4U, daisy group, fitness first, pronovias). they’ve become the poster child for ‘when the musics stops..’
KKR is known amongst recruiters to ‘have a rock solid brand but lacking in returns’. I think they really turned this around with key people changes in L5Y
Bx is known to do very few, but big size mover deals. think Merlin, refinitiv etc. great for the firm, not so sure if great from a junior perspective (1 closed deal in....x years?)
APO can probably win the ‘worst culture in Europe’ award. Beating HG. high base starting pay for associates if you’re willing to sell your soul though. work itself is also hairy and not as interesting as people think looking from the outside...
Hellman&Friedman Deserves a real special shoutout. they are slightly under the radar, but have out of this world returns. they would be the ‘quiet guy who cares about nothing but great investments’. just google where their office is in London... kind of stands out and if you know, you know!
TPG and Warburg are both in the same camp of ‘we would NOT even talk to you if not for your American track record’
Bain Capital are a bunch of smart guys but their fund 4 and arguably fund 5 has really suffered like no tomorrow..group of smart people but probably needs some risk governance from chasing deals? IQ really doesn’t guarantee returns
Cinven is also great but is like the shorter and less cool brother of Advent (not in terms of fund size, but just overall institution)
Ardian has better adjacent businesses (fund of funds, infra), but you really question ‘what are you even doing in PE?’.
Permira would fall under the team of ‘A Players’ but similar to Cinven vs Advent, they are like the less attractive version of CVC
APAX really took a HIT in their reputation if you look at anything their consumer team has touched. somehow they’ve partially recovered their reputation in Europe thanks to the tech team, but also heard tough culture
on the mid / smaller end of the market, shoutout to Bridgepoint, EQT mid market fund, Vitruvian (the mini HG), Francisco Partners,
also as an anecdotal point I think the rumour of Europeans working less hard than Americans in PE is kind of nonsense if you compare averages... but of course at the extreme ends, the craziest person in America would probably ‘win’ most hours in the office. Whoever comes to Europe thinking it’s sun tanning Friday or ski trip monday is in for a big shock
This is a great response and I really appreciate it. I am currently looking at a very small brand new PE shop in Germany. I can see the advantages of that in a way that I could be part of the growth story and potentially rake in some carry and rise within the company fairly quickly if new funds are raised quickly.
But its also risky if being stuck at a no name PE shop if it is not doing well.
What are your thought? Also what are your thoughts / experiences on hiring process and comp?
Currently Analyst in NYC PE shop ~$160k all-in. Associate next year should mean ~$250k all in.
Any responses greatly appreciated!
I wouldn't bank too much on that growth story - unless its explicitly written that you will get carry, never trust them is generally good advice.
I mean the real upside here is for the founders and senior deal makers, not you. They HOPE to be able to attract good enough talent before they establish a track record / brand name. If i'm honest, the short end of the stick here is towards you.
That being said if the comp is attractive enough and you like the pedigree and culture of the people, by all means do it!
I am personally conservative so am biased to not take this risk