PE teams in Sovereign Wealth Funds

Question

Hi all,

Curious about the differences between:

- working in the PE team of an SWF (e.g. GIC, ADIA, QIA), and

- working in a traditional PE shop

I'm guessing that private PE shops have a bit more flexibility in the types of deals/structures they can pursue and bonuses they can offer, but with more demanding hours. Would that be accurate? Any other differences between such organisations e.g. different exit opportunities, cultural nuances, hiring/training practices, etc?

Nutry · Accepted Answer

Well, I had not checked this website for a while but better late than never I guess? Comparing SWF to the MF:

Base pay and bonus: slightly lower

Carry: materially lower

Exit opportunities: more limited now that I am industry-focused but I do receive inbounds from HHs every other month for lateraling opportunities in GPs with the same industry focus. No reason to lateral to other SWFs/pension funds since I don't think any would offer better comp/career than my current position.

Deal exposure/involvement: depends a bit on direct vs. co-investment type of deals. On direct deals (i.e.

Nutry · Answer

Not really experienced with FoF so I would be afraid of making too many comparisons. An important point to highlight is that SWFs are government-owned entities while FoFs are owned by private individuals, which tends to imply in differences in how the organizations are run, compensation structures, internal bureacracy, fund raising process (none at SWFs), etc.

In my current role, I am involved and lead all the steps of the direct investments, from screening/sourcing with corporates to execution of legal documents pretty much like in a traditional GP.

90001 · Answer

Fundraising is a clear difference. Unless you work at a MF or otherwise well established firm, fundraising is constant, uncertain grind.  As you noted, work life is typically better at SWFs. This is partially due to culture, but also because SWFs typically aren't leading deals. It's much more common that they sync up with a GP during a syndication process. This has it's benefits and drawbacks (ie less likely to lose a deal, but less engaged in the process)...

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PE teams in Sovereign Wealth Funds

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PE teams in Sovereign Wealth Funds

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