Updated views on Advent, Bain, and Berkshire?
Looking at a few consultant friendly firms - any insights on the WLB and culture at any of these places - collaborative or sharp elbowed? Specifically interested in the industrials and consumer teams
All fantastic firms.
Advent has probably had the splashiest couple of years though couple of high profile issues since ‘21 (Thrasio, IPOs, etc). Consumer definitely a strong suit if that’s your interest.
VERY bullish on Bain - they have been disciplined and invested smartly, heard they may end up with the strongest overall returns of the megacaps for trailing 10 year vintages. Quite impressed.
Berkshire has been lower key of late, though probably the best mix of intellect + culture in the industry.
Point about Bain's returns is interesting - did not know that they had good returns, read on this and other threads that their returns have been average - mediocre.
They have overall, but still fair better vs most of the other MFs is the point. PE heyday isn't what it used to be.
Bain cap has had mediocre returns for a while now. Good culture for a mega cap but overly reliant / complacent on “intellectual” home-grown culture that hasn’t yielded them much. Berkshire has a great culture though not sure of the status of their latest / current fundraise
Idk where people are getting this - have heard that bain’s flagship PE returns have been fine and beat out KKR and BX. Agree w above point that Bain was very disciplined throughout 2020 and 2021 and will not get bitten in the ass by tech assets as much as other funds might.
Advent, Bain, and Berkshire are all well regarded but you need to contextualize WLB and culture. Relative to consulting you will work much more at all of these firms and your weekends won't be protected. The WLB differences are more going to be driven by which deals or portcos you're staffed on than the firm. These are also all relatively large firms so culture can vary a lot between teams. Even good culture teams though won't be as kumbaya or collaborative as consulting, just a different model. Few things I'd think about between these three:
MF vs UMM: Advent and Bain are much larger brands which matters if you eventually want to work outside PE or work internationally. If you want to stay in domestic PE it's a wash. You probably won't know everyone at any of these firms but Advent/Bain will still feel a bit bigger than Berkshire.
Program Structure: Advent has a three year associate program which gets you more deal reps and a better chance of closing a deal as an associate but it's an extra year and your exits wouldn't differ from someone coming from a two year associate program. Also one more year before business school if you want to go. Bain has their associates rotate between two teams over their two years (e.g., first year in industrials, second year in consumer) which can be good for you to meet more people and try multiple industries. Berkshire has associates spend two years on the same team which builds consistency but you could be stuck in an industry you're not interested in.
Industry Focus: For industrials these firms are all fine. If you're set on consumer, consumer PE has been tough the last couple years. Advent hasn't closed a new North American consumer platform in a while and Berkshire shut down their consumer team.
Where do consultants at Advent/Bain that don’t want to go to B-school usually exit?
Either stay in investing at another PE firm, move earlier stage to growth/venture, or to a hedge fund. Some to operating roles, usually at earlier stage companies / startups. Some back to consulting. Exits don't look that different from any other reputable PE firm tbh.
This is a really helpful breakdown of the differences, thank you!
Question on WLB - I'm ok with consistently working hard (eg until 11pm-12am every day) and with weekend work, but I know that my body will start to break down if I frequently work past midnight. Is the expectation to frequently work past midnight (eg 3ams) at the above shops? Know that during live deals, people say all bets are off, but trying to visualize what it will actually look like - wouldn't be able to take several months of 3ams vs 1 week of them.
Similarly, if I'm chatting with the teams, is there a smart way to phrase the above question? I'm still willing to work hard, but not to the point of my health boundaries
Depends a lot on the team and what you get staffed on but generally if you're coming from consulting I'd think of it as the PE team is sprinting the 3 weeks you're doing the CDD and at least 1 week before to figure out whether it's interesting enough to hire the consultants and at least 1 week after to sign the deal. Those are the all bets are off weeks where it's probably midnight or later most nights. There's also random weeks where you get grinded b/c your portco is shitty, there are time consuming internal asks, or your to do list just gets too long. Cumulatively probably at least one month each quarter where you're working past midnight consistently.
Honestly I don't think I've ever heard someone give an honest answer on WLB when a prospect calls them. Some hardos might even hold it against you. I think your best bet is to ask friends in the industry, people who left your current firm in PE, or someone who's already left.
look at deal flows in pitchbook and note down the dealflow and size per industry/sector, then cross reference them to company profile
Fact of the matter is if you get an offer at any of these shops, you should be overjoyed and take it immediately
Why? I'm less close to finance, so I don't have an inherent understanding of the benefits of these larger funds vs smaller MM firms. Other than the perceived prestige and comp, is it the exit opps? The thought that if you're going to work so hard everywhere, you might as well do it at a more well known brand?
Ok fair enough — let me clarify. IF PE and investing is your thing then you should take no brainer. It’s because these are great learning opportunities that can relay themselves well into other areas of investing .
But obviously investing isn’t everything — if you have absolutely no interest in the models or the hours etc , or are very passionate about starting your own company or becoming a doctor or whatever else , it is kind of a no brainer to not take.
I kind of assumed that the “assuming you want to be in PE” part was implicit but fair call out; I do think a lot of the overachievers in their early 20s overhype PE too much as the promise land but it obvi isn’t everything
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