PE straight out of undergrad?
Relatively, how likely is it for a student to break into PE straight out of undergrad compared to traditional IB roles? Assume that said candidate is competitive enough for IB : 3.8+ gpa, case competition/stock pitch competitions/LBO case competitions podium finishes, uni finance club leadership, good with both technicals and behaviourals etc. Would be nice if you could vary your answer by MF/MM/LMM PE vs BB/EB IB
(Am a Singaporean so would be even better if you have a perspective of PE recruiting in Singapore)
Some shops run analyst programs but most prefer you to have done 1 year in IB at least.
Brookfield has an analyst program.
I would suggest you simply do 1-2 years as an analyst, properly learn your technicals and get some deal experience under the belt before you make the move. There is a reason this is the trodden path. Your options will be far greater.
Thank u!
You have to be pretty damn elite to get PE from undergrad.
Singaporean here. Not many PE shops recruit straight out of undergrad here. Nearest you would get is Navis, which basically poaches almost anyone. Out of the MFs, only WP hires off-cycle interns with the possibility of conversions.
It’s very unlikely for the average high finance candidate. There just aren’t that many spots. There are many more candidates who are qualified for PE roles out of undergrad than actually receive them
Singaporean here. MF/UMM PE’s don’t hire out of undergrad. 90% of professionals there are Singaporeans who did IB abroad (US/UK) and came back after a few years.
Only shops that (occasionally) hire out of undergrad are MM PE’s. Wouldn’t recommend it unless you fucked up your GPA/fully struck out with regards to BB/MM M&A.
MM PE in Singapore is a joke imo. Poor economics (25mn - 50mn SGD AUM/HC) which lead to significantly lower salaries (30-50% haircut to BB IBD). Only deals you will see are from Indonesia/Vietnam/Thai. Conversion rate for interns are also pretty terrible.
If you’re still interested, some shops that regularly take interns (with potential for conversion):
1. Titan Capital
2. 65 Equity Partners
3. Vibranium Holdings
4. Dymon Asia Capital
5. Navis
The key differentiating element not listed above is whether you have some internships in finance (M&A / PE).
Funds do not want to take the risk of (i) teaching you how to behave in a demanding professional environment for the first time, and (ii) you "discovering PE" as an Analyst and realizing it's not for you after 6 months. I would even say experience in both M&A / PE is sort of common (taking a sample of people I know), hence why (in EU at least) most PE analysts are master-level students who had the time to do 1 summer in M&A + 1 Off-cycle in PE.
If you do have a valuable experience in finance before applying for analyst positions, then your list above will indeed differentiate you. The main focus from recruiters will be on (i) basic technical skills i.e. accouting, paper LBO etc., and (ii) a genuine "passion" for investing i.e. do you invest, or do you have investment ideas ? How do you think about growth ? How do you think about risk ? etc.
Good luck!
Offering some SG perspective here.
It is difficult but it is doable.
The SWFs (Your Temasek/GIC) hire straight out of undergrad. There are also 1/2 pension funds such as OTPP.
If you are open to infra/energy transition PE, Macquarie/MIRA runs a summer internship every year with a potential for conversion.
There are also firms such as Partners Group that has been running a grad program for a while now. And with regards to the MFs, I second the comment on WP although I’m certain that is very difficult to get.
PE recruiting is a lot more opportunistic here as opposed to the structured style of North America but I think it is still possible to do PE straight out of undergrad here.
Thank u for the insightful answer :)
Feel free to PM me or we can take this offline as well, happy to help.
I'd advise against it. In private equity and particularly in sovereign wealth funds / pensions, analysts tend to make materials and do less of the financial analysis.
After two years, I'd say there's a high risk you'd fall behind someone who did reps in banking
I’d beg to differ. I think it depends primarily on the analyst training program of the PE firm. If you’re going to a firm with an analyst program that has a long track record, and it’s somewhat common for analysts to stay at the firm and be promoted through VP, then you aren’t missing anything significant technical-wise compared to starting in banking. At some PE firms, though, analysts are used primarily to build decks and the associates run the models, in which case you are missing out.
Go work at sycamore partners - they hire out of undergrad u will crush it
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