TPG SF vs Permira Tech vs KKR TMT vs Silver Lake
Extremely curious and, quite frankly, very new to the space, but would love to get a sense of where tech MF PE firms rank these days on the basis of comp (assuming path to VP), HF exits, B-school placements, associate experience, etc.
You will never be in a position to choose offers between these, so the question is a bit flawed.
Cumulatively, the groups you mention will hire roughly ~15 people per year. Most of those will be your standard HYPW -> GS / MS candidate. Otherwise, it’s going to be an uphill battle to get an offer from any of these firms.
Comp and HF exits will be relatively similar, which is to say the very best across PE.
For MBA, would give a slight edge to TPG / Permira versus KKR / SL, as the latter have struggled with MBA placement recently.
If you forced me to rank them holistically, it’d be
TPG / Silver Lake > KKR / Permira
Regardless, if you receive an offer from any of these firms, your exits will be more about the individual candidate rather than the firm. The differences are so minimal it’s not worth discussing.
Cope - know many people who had to choose offers between these.
If you go through OC recruiting, this is not possible.
For off-cycle, you would need to receive a very generous timeline to decide on offers for this to happen, which none of my peers have ever experienced.
Anecdotal, but from all my BB peers who received a MF offer, they were given a timeline anywhere from “right now” to “think about it and get back to us tomorrow”.
It’s a function of MFs needing to compete for talent, and knowing that candidates usually have to sign because of how limited the number of MF positions are.
Maybe things are different now but every offer my friends and I got OC blew up if you left (the building)
Thanks so much - totally understand your points and your response. Going further, is HF recruiting more a product of individual capability rather than the current PE firm/group (compared to that of banking on-cycle)?
HF recruiting is a product of your individual investing acumen, experience, and fit with the firm you interview with.
However, in order to even interview with the top SM HFs, you have to first fit their criteria.
That is usually a path of T10 School > Top BB / EB > Any of the SL / TPG / KKR / Permira mentioned above or other top MFs.
Because of how few top HFs exist, and how rarely seats open up for them, it is even harder to land a seat there than at the MFs.
Makes total sense - one more follow on question and a bit more difficult one I’m guessing to really have a good answer for. Is there a general notion of which firms have “consistent” path to VP opportunities/are internal hire friendly at the deal-lead level vs those that don’t across MFs?
Generally, none of these firms will have a straightforward path to promotion.
If you recruit for MF, you should go in with the notion that you most likely will have to find a new position or go get an MBA afterwards.
The rationale for the MF experience is you get the very best training ground and deal experience across PE, you de-risk your career by having another name brand after IB, and you preserve the most optionality possible in a career.
While PE is not going to be as lucrative for new associates entering as it once was, doing MF PE gives you a set of choices that no other opportunity within finance can so early in your career, even compared to MM / UMM PE.
You can lateral to another PE firm, usually have to go down market to MM or UMM. There’s going to HSW for MBA, recruiting for SM HFs, or pursuing something more entrepreneurial if you’re inclined.
Of the firms listed, KKR and TPG will have virtually no chance to be promoted. SL and Permira will be incredibly tough but appear more open to associates staying. For any of these firms, I wouldn’t plan on making a career there. The mid level and senior seats at those firms are so valuable that people just don’t leave, which means associates aren’t able to progress.
Bump
KKR TMT is by far the worst of these 4 and it's not even close. If you're interested in LT career in tech, SL or Permira are best options. TPG better MBA placement than KKR but both have low chance of long-term promotes and frankly neither reaches top 5 in terms of MF TMT talent.
Thanks for the insights. Would you mind elaborating on the top MF TMT talent besides SL/TB/Vista?
I would say HF and Permira are the other two in terms of large cap tech deals. Not "MF" in terms of AUM but they compete in the exact same deal space.
How does Permira Menlo tech compare to H&F/SL/TB/Vista?
I would say those are the top 5 names in large cap PE, with TB/Vista being in a league of their own due to sheer size.
TPG = SL > Permira > KKR
How does TB / Vista compare to these?
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