29 Comments
 

I have 3 friends at EQT, and have worked with them on several deals. They are more collaborative that their American counterparts, and have a slightly nerdy culture. I'm not sure I would say that they are laid back - they are definitely competitive when it comes to tight processes, and there are very hard working individuals there. I don't think your experience at EQT is going to be vastly different to the one at UMM Scandinavian funds such as Verdane or FSN, who also have European offices. 

Not that familiar with the Milan office, but have worked with people from Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen and Zurich. There are not that notable differences between the offices (Could also be because the CEO Christian Sinding, who's a Norwegian, has worked and started many of the European offices, and the culture tends to be slightly similar). 

I don't know... Yeah. Almost definitely yes.
 

That's a fair point, and I agree. The two are different, but I was trying to relate it to EQT, which I personally would put somewhere in the middle of those two. 

I don't know... Yeah. Almost definitely yes.
 

I'm not sure if these posts are trolls? EQT, at least in Germany, is arguably one of the most sweatiest/toxic funds. Never heard anything good coming out of there. It is k*ss your a** goodbye kind of environment. 

They also constantly recruit which tells you everything. Just recently a friend of mine left there after ~1.5Y. She hated every single day of it.

 

Hello. I'd like to talk a little bit more about EQT in Germany since you seem to know some things about it. Can we talk by email or something ? Thank you. Best, Camille

 
Most Helpful

Source: I work at EQT in North America.

If you think working at ANY megafund is going to be laid back, boy do I have news for you. Just because it is Euro-based does not make it chill. If anything, for any US-based worker, this is worse because you compete with the NAM megafunds, so you work terrible hours and endure cutthroat culture, but have a comp haircut because the headquarters are not in the US.

My experience as an associate has been 100+ hours a week on live deals (not exaggerating, can be more), which typically lasts 2-4 months, and 70-80hrs otherwise. Typically you are staffed on 2-3 live deal processes a year, so you can see how this quickly becomes terrible. Half the year or more you are just trying to survive while your life deteriorates to a point you don’t think is possible, and the rest of the time you are still working bad hours, but just may not want to off yourself. VP hours are not much better, sometimes even worse because you are expected to run everything and review the associate’s work.

Culture is whatever - same as all the other megafunds. Everyone is competing for a small number of seats and will step on your neck if it means a higher chance of promotion. Also, very woke because we are Euro. Lots of virtue signaling and sustainability / DEI bullshit.

Comp is okay, but notably below the other US megafunds. Carry is a myth. All the same usual PE gripes.

If you think EQT is materially better than other megafunds you are kidding yourself. They are all slightly different copies of one another, but probably truly indistinguishable from an associate experience. Believe me or don’t - it is what it is.

 

Excuse me, but why do you say "Carry is a myth" ? From what i see in Europe, it's very common to get it (if you are a partner, of course). As for EQT, they have a lot of very bad deals in Europe (Glasaser, Cerba, Colisee, ...), so for them, yes, carry doesn't look great. 

 

Bit surprised by this comment - seems to be the first negative thing on here about EQT in US (assuming buyout NY, not Infra). Recent posts indicated top of street comp + actual carry for associates (was true as of last year when I spoke to a friend who works there too)

 

There is no such thing as good culture at a megafund. There are individual teams with slightly less terrible hours/politics/crappy bosses. 

I'd say one of the downsides to EQT--even to this day--is that comp is slightly below market, especially in the US. Bonus is lower and best they'll do is help you lever up your fund/deal co-investments with EQT. 

 

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