UMM Comparison

Looking for an updated view on recent performance, comp, business school / HF exits, and overall associate experience at UMM firms like AEA, American Securities, Veritas, Lindsay Goldberg, WCAS, Berkshire, TH Lee, Providence, etc.

Curious if anyone has differentiating info on any of these funds.

24 Comments
 
Controversial

I’ll take a shot at this. Here are my tiers of firms based on general reputation. Excluding guys like CD&R which are basically MFs at this point, though some of the names below could arguably be considered MFs (especially the Tier I, all of which have $10B+ funds). 
 

Completely subjective and definitely splitting hairs, but that’s what we’re here for right
 

Tier 1

Francisco Partners

Veritas

Clearlake

LGP

Tier II

Genstar

New Mountain

GTCR

BDT

Berkshire

Platinum

Tier III

MDP

American Securities

Lindsay Goldberg

WCAS

Ares

Tier IV and on

THL

Providence

AEA

Jordan

Siris

 

Depends what you’re ranking on obviously, but seems like senior people in the industry don’t view Clearlake as a tier 1. At least at my fund and when I was in banking, think a lot of people question their strategy and they certainly don’t have the historical reputation of most other names on that list.

Obviously if looking at fundraising / returns (at least on paper) it’s a different conversation, but people in the industry seem to look down at Clearlake a bit more than others

 

Thanks for the write up - think this is largely accurate. Would move THL up a rung due to recent fund performance, strong fundraising momentum, overall B School placement, and size of deals (leverage co-invest). Would like to see if they can hold their gains especially in tech & automation - but it’s definitely a stronger platform in their last two funds (8-9) than it was in prior funds (6-7).

Seems like market perception for THL hasn’t shifted much from the debacle that was their founder’s exit, but performance and types of deals seem to be completely different than in the past.

 

Asperiores accusantium nam aut corrupti iste ea. Possimus sequi aperiam nisi recusandae incidunt. Iusto corrupti blanditiis pariatur est alias doloribus enim. Praesentium voluptatem ut ad rem mollitia. Voluptas aperiam laborum quam culpa deserunt perspiciatis saepe. Omnis quos quia earum voluptatum.

 

Odio qui quo est pariatur assumenda. Minus et perferendis non facere consequatur. Inventore itaque est ex nulla et nobis. Doloribus cumque at atque quia.

Officiis in praesentium rerum distinctio optio dolorem et. Voluptates cum aut et ratione. Aut est occaecati minima fuga. Rerum aut mollitia cum eos autem et repellat quae.

Veniam perferendis numquam repellat id magni. Rerum pariatur aut eveniet dolores voluptas tempora. Vel est quidem maxime repellendus omnis.

Velit eius corrupti neque possimus. Esse eveniet natus et velit suscipit qui. Aut quidem inventore velit iste. Doloremque iusto voluptas consectetur repellat quas ut eum. Ea in eum a neque asperiores dolores. Culpa perspiciatis in adipisci quis libero.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.6%
  • Blackstone Group 99.3%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Vista Equity Partners 98.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Private Equity

  • Blackstone Group 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.2%
  • The Riverside Company 98.9%
  • Ardian 98.5%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.1%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (99) $363
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (105) $280
  • 2nd Year Associate (235) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (411) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (97) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (272) $124
  • Intern/Summer Associate (38) $81
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (355) $61
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”