It seems that the composition of many UK MM funds is heavily weighted towards ex-Big Four employees. Why is that? Is it because their previous experience would be better oriented for smaller deal sizes?
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A lot of the partners at these smaller shops were at Big 4 2-3 decades ago and hence value the experience.
Their deal experience is more relevant. They also have lower comp expectations.
ACA is highly regarded by these firms for some reason + the experience is more relevant
Basically no point doing IB if you want to go for MM PE in the UK, despite what this website will tell you..
Fully agreed (and I hope my post history is consistent about this topic!)
That said, you have to be the star pupil at the Big 4 to be a candidate to move to TS or FDD or the like. And put up with crap pay for a few years.
Being a qualified accountant is highly valued (especially those employees with FDD experience or other related areas). In many cases a lot of analysis will be done internally rather than using external advisors, at least at an early stage - there's smaller deals and lower budgets. I expect there's something to be said for the smaller deal size argument too.
Why hire a banker when you could hire something with a stronger accounting skillset and (probably as another commentor has mentioned) lower comp requirements?
To be honest it's sometimes a wonder that the MFs hire bankers at all, especially when so many are hired with 1 - 2 years' experience (often this will literally be shuffling logos and making company profiles for a good portion of that time). I guess that MFs like that (A) Banks are typically super selective with candidates, so they can rely on the "seal of approval", (B) there's a need for more complex deal structures (multiple tranches of debt, etc., although you have to believe an AN2 comes with that and it can't be easily learned), and maybe (C) bankers are probably more tried-and-tested with consistent crazy hours that (some) MFs are known for.
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