PE partners keep telling me I’ll “get rich” if I’m patient. Am I being naive?
Hey guys. So, I work at a small private equity fund in my country. When they hired me, they basically told me, “You’re going to get rich here.” I was coming from a place that was absolutely terrible, but paid me very well and had great benefits, so I took the job.
In the end, I was making about 86% of what I was making before, but I accepted it because they offered a larger bonus. They offered me a guaranteed bonus + an extraordinary/discretionary bonus based on certain targets.
I like money. I come from a poor family and have worked my way up. I’m comfortable today, but I want to buy my own apartment and a car. I’ve always been very open about the fact that I care about money, and over time, the partners started getting annoyed by it.
My direct boss actually told me that I’m not mature enough to get rich yet because I’m still very young, and that I need to be patient and stop wanting to get rich quickly.
Honestly, fuck “maturity.” Nobody here is working for a fucking NGO.
Anyway, they keep giving me the same speech: “Be patient, you’re going to get rich.” At this point, it almost feels like I’m an LP rather than an Associate.
Last week, my boss called me in and told me to think about whether I was really in the right place, because they’re looking for people who are willing to be patient and “get rich alongside them” — partners who are already fucking rich.
I didn’t say anything.
So I want your opinion: are all PE funds like this?
One more detail: my extraordinary bonus depends on targets for the portfolio companies that they have never clearly communicated to us. On top of that, there is no defined career path. I’ve asked about it several times, and I always get the same answer: “Be patient.”
To be completely honest, you should probably be looking for a new job. If your partners have to take the time to have multiple conversations with you about your cash comp and view you as being "difficult", they probably already view you as having low EQ / being a poor culture fit. Over time, PE partnerships across the industry tend to not promote, and push out people that they view as being "difficult".
MM/LMM PE funds are never going to pay you the same cash comp as staying in IB. The only way to outearn IB is to work at a well performing fund that offers carry and is deploying and returning capital at a rate well above where the average fund is performing in this industry (at present). If you want to make more money in PE, either move to a better fund with more AUM, or become more valuable to your current firm by sourcing and leading new investments.
The benefit to staying in PE is that as you build a track record as an investor, you'll be able to stay in the game while working less hours and cashing larger carry checks than the average MD in IB where you're only as good as your last year of fees (or at least that's the blueprint). If you're ok with a constant "eat what you kill" mentality on the sellside, you should move back to IB and work for an EB where you can start to carve out a focus vertical as you rise in your career.
That’s a good point. Since the fund is small, I end up wearing a lot of hats. On our last investment, I handled the deal end-to-end and even saved the fund several tens of millions before Closing.
I don’t really have anyone above me for support, since my direct boss is one of the partners. It’s honestly exhausting to handle so many different responsibilities — negotiating price, answering LP questions, dealing with portfolio company issues, etc.
Sometimes my job feels much more like a VP role, just without any carry.
Anyway, I’m going to start looking around and probably move back to IB. I’d rather make more money than work fewer hours.
Being honest with you, your post managed to come off as entitled, yet resentful.
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