WP analyst program is obv very strong and competitive (id say on par with KKR/BX)
Curious what exits look like specifically from the Analyst program as theres not much data aside from the associates.
Anyone also know how long the analyst program has been around for?
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It’s one of the more established Analyst programs along with BX and SLP. It’s been around a lot longer than KKR so it’s more structured from a training and staffing perspective. Most Analysts choose to stay on as Associates because culture and upward mobility are fairly strong across all groups, but the few that have chosen to pursue other opportunities obviously have their pick of places to go. Given WP’s style of investing, many Analysts and Associates have opted to go to top tier crossover or growth equity shops with some public equity exits sprinkled in there. This is in stark contrast to Analysts from BX that end up in both value oriented (e.g., Baupost) and growth oriented public hedge fund roles (e.g., Tiger cubs). For what it’s worth, you very rarely see people staying on past the Analyst program at BX whereas it’s very common for WP. I can assure you it’s not because of exits, but the economic opportunity to stay on and get carry at one of the last private large cap private equity firms.
What’s their style of investing? Growth buyout?
Interested as well
Why is it rare to see BX analysts stay on past their 3 years? Do they not promote, or is it just a function of them being perhaps the most qualified candidates on the street? Also, do you mind sending me a DM?
If you have questions why not ask them publicly instead of asking everyone to DM you?
Their analyst program has been around for awhile, but contrary to popular belief it is not structured. You get a week of training and then are thrown onto the desk. From the people I spoke to analysts don't feel comfortable until 12-15 months in. Then once you finally get comfortable you have to learn the associate role. WP is a great name, but personally wouldn't recommend it. Also the role is me GE than PE unless you're in their SIG group. Would pick Insight and GA over WP if goal is growth and any other PE analyst program if goal is buyout as you will be responsible for sourcing deals. If the choice is top IB or WP, I'd go WP.
Also, contrary to the above, the reason why most analysts stay to associate is because the contract is for 4 years not 2/3 as the other analyst programs. Even though you can leave, you'd just be burning bridges and it would not be received well by the firm.
WP is an amazing place to start out your career in finance and you cannot go wrong with it. I would say that their exits are amazing for someone looking to go into VC or a growth oriented strategy but difficult otherwise. Exits from their past analyst classes are: a16z, Summit, Addition, Snow Hill, TRAC Partners, Cometee. Additionally, Compared to other PE analyst classes, a decent portion of the analysts end up getting an MBA after 4 years.
The program has been around since 2015ish and they have rapidly expanded the analyst class size. The larger analyst class gives you a bigger network and allows the analysts to help each other. Unfortunately, no matter how much training you have, you will have to learn how to teach yourself a majority of the stuff on the job so having a larger analyst class is beneficial to help bounce ideas off of each other. Blackstone/KKR/SL have a much smaller analyst class so it is much more of a sink or swim environment.
If you are looking for a career in buyout or value oriented HF, WP's analyst program might not be the best. The exits from other PE programs are significantly better for those two career paths. Most Blackstone analysts exit to top HF(e.g., Tiger, Soroban, D1) because the analysts are very brilliant and do not want to get an MBA to come back. Honestly, if Blackstone removed that requirement, Blackstone would have higher retention and have a stellar post MBA associate class. KKR's analyst program started of very informal (the first program was technically in 1996 with the current CEOs being the first cohort). KKR does not require MBA so there are more people staying on past the associate level. They also have exits to top funds (e.g., Elliot, Jana, Lone Pine). SL also does not require MBA and and has amazing exits (e.g., D1, Anomaly, Soroban). SL also has a few directors and principals that started as analysts.
Again, most of the students getting into WP or any other top MF are top talent and can probably end up in a top HF/PE/VC but historically the students choosing WP had a greater inclination towards a growth oriented investing style. Hope this helps.
Agree with all of this. My general thought is that if you were good enough to get into WP, BX, KKR, SLP, etc., one doesn’t necessarily give you any tangible edge. It’s like saying Wharton kids place better than Harvard kids. It becomes irrelevant at some point because they both have access to the top opportunities and it’s just about what people want out of their careers and how they perform in interviews. If you broaden the exits to Associates, all the MF PE firms place at the same places (e.g., D1, Addition, Tiger, Pershing Square, Elliott, etc.). I would argue that the best spots in the industry after MF PE is c-suite roles at fast growing start ups or uniquely structured new funds. Those offer much more compelling upside opportunities than being the 20th Analyst at D1.
Why do people leave megafund programmes for analyst positions at places like D1, soroban, Elliott? If it were tiger, lone pine , pershing etc i would understand. But isn't comp likely better if u stay on vs move to those other funds? I also wonder what the progression is like at D1, soroban etc since people seem to stay on as analysts pretty much forever from getting a quick look at LinkedIn profiles
D1, Soroban, and Elliot are no worse than Tiger, LPC, and Pershing
Don't think WP analyst program is at the same level as BX / KKR, (although obviously it is very good). Its DNA is in growth equity, not in buyout, so it's a pretty different experience than the other programs. You could argue it is the most unique in that you have the "prospecting" element that you'll never get as an analyst at BX / KKR, but there's a huge disparity in the experience depending on the team at WP. They've closed down their consumer team in the US after poor performance.
Huge difference in the program by sector, with Tech by far being the best team, then healthcare / services / industrials, then a pretty big drop off then FIG then another drop off then energy. Would say WP Tech is comparable to SLP analyst but otherwise would go with other MF analyst programs.
Why is their tech team strong? Heard its super prospecting/sourcing heavy for analysts
Heard actually the opposite for WP teams. Tech team is obviously strong, but from an experience standpoint, it’s very different from healthcare / services / industrials. The latter teams have been focused on traditional buyouts (healthcare less so) for the last 20+ years. Generally heard all of the groups are pretty equal from a performance standpoint with obvious cycles depending on what sector is hot at the moment.
I've heard similar. WP has great tech deal flow but a lot of the better deals end up with SIG as opposed to Tech. SIG deals with large-cap companies, whereas tech works with small firms, but companies in the gray area are subject to a bit of deal cannabalism.
What’re the hours like at WP
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Am an incoming analyst so will share my obviously biased views while trying to not dox myself
(1) WP is very much a place where the emphasis of the analyst program is on developing people who will be principals one day, which is my goal. Still have some interest in HFs but even then, being at a place where people view you as a long-term investment and not a 2-year monkey makes for a better learning experience IMO.
(2) Definitely downsides in terms of a different modelling skillset + way of thinking when doing growth investments vs traditional LBOs. However, one super important thing for me was just getting a lot of reps in and writing smaller checks across multiple stages lets you do more reps (building pattern recognition, understanding different business models) / get a broader array of experiences vs doing a small amount of enormous deals.
(3) WP being private makes culture a lot better (one flagship fund vs a lot of corporate empire building, focus on great returns rather than asset gathering) and makes the economics pretty similar with some larger MFs even though the fund size is smaller (bc a lot of the BX/Apollo/KKR fund carry goes to public shareholders)
(4) Culture is good--hard to pin down from outside but really got along with the people I met. Hours will be super rough at any MF PE but that only makes getting along w your team even more important. Am aware of the IBS horror stories, though I hear it's gotten significantly better since they separated industrials and business services
(5) Frankly WP recruits super early (first rounds early June, entire process wrapped up by early July), so it's unlikely if you get an offer you'll be able to accelerate / have another offer in hand. Am very happy with my junior summer but definitely wanted to do MF PE full time so wasn't going to turn down WP for a fairly small shot at a place I might not even have preferred over WP
(6) Agreed that hedge fund exits are significantly weaker than from BX/KKR/SLP if that's your interest; but (1) personally more interested in staying on at WP long-term and (2) think there's self-selection (fewer WP analysts recruit for HFs). There are people at Elliott, Pershing, D1, etc from Warburg; I don't think there's any interviews you'd get as a BX analyst you wouldn't as a WP analyst and in my experience once you get the interview the rest is up to you individually.
I would say (1) the takeaway of this thread for the median top candidate who is more set on HFs is that BX/KKR/SLP make more sense vs Warburg, though you're really splitting hairs at that point but (2) Warburg's strategy resonated with me more and I valued the clearer path to a long-term career there.
Agree with most of this. Just to refine point #2 (modeling) -- Warburg is a growth investor first and foremost, but has a broad and flexible mandate. You'll look at deals ranging from "pure" growth equity (bilateral and series rounds) to growth buyouts and later-stage LBOs in nearly all groups (tech is primarily growth equity and large-cap buyouts sit in SIG), but the split will ultimately depend on which sector you are in.
WP tends to deploy larger check sizes in more classic LBO-style transactions in Industrials, Services and SIG, whereas Technology / Healthcare / Energy (and FIG to an extent) are weighted toward higher volume, growth capital opportunities. As a result, the modeling experience will differ, with the former groups having more traditional technical LBO reps vs. the latter. All groups dive deep on diligence and do some very interesting thesis development work. Overall, I wouldn't say there's really one opportunity that will yield an objectively superior experience, it all just depends on what you're interested in.
Would also emphasize point #6: From WP, you should be marketable for any of those opportunities, but people tend to gravitate to more of an operationally intensive / growth-oriented style of investing vs. hedge funds just based on the nature of the work.
Very helpful colour groups wise, thanks!
If the end goal is HF and you have offers from GS/MS/EVR/CVP and WP, which would make more sense? Join WP and then recruit for HF, or try to make the 2+2 jump from the top IB group to a MF, before joining a HF?
IMO still Warburg by far—investing mindset is something super valuable about being in a PE role right away and there are no doors open to you from IB that WP won’t open (unless it’s PJT RSSG and you want to do distressed investing) + on cycle recruiting is always a bit of a shitshow (no guarantee you get Apollo or BX)
Tangential and I will probably get MS for this because I’m still so young but I see a lot of people at my school / my age focus way too much on getting into a seat and not enough on doing well once they’re in that seat; for almost any investing seat in the long run spending more time in your early career as an investor vs in client service will teach/prepare you better (RX and distressed seats are the exception here for WP specifically given simply how different the work is)
Can i PM you?
Also, WP’s analyst program is 4 year commitment with an associate promotion after first 2 years. After 2+2, you have an option to stay as a senior associate, or go to MBA, which WP pays for, and have outreach programs directly to deans at top schools
anyone know how the placements have been? i heard tpg struggling with S/H not sure if that is just them or all MFs
TPG is most definitely NOT struggling with S/H they sent at least 4 this year to S
What sorts of materials helped you prep for the interview?
Also interested
Did you also get a first round week for the 2024 analyst role?
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