Tired of seeing discussion about MF / Premier UMM funds over and over - by the numbers, most of us will not end up at one of those funds. Want to start a discussion on some reputable / rising MM funds that are desirable to work at in terms of experience, b-school placements, etc.
Thinking in terms of funds like Cove Hill, Searchlight, Stellex, Golden Gate spin-outs, etc.
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Oak hill, court square, kelso, Jordan company, towerbrook are a couple that come to mind
Crestview
Arcline and Percheron are Golden Gate spin outs. TBD on Percheron but Arcline appears to be doing well. Other solid MM SF funds include FFL and GI Partners. Patient Square is a first time fund focused on healthcare raising $3B.
Other NY funds include Odyssey, Metalmark, Rhone, MidOcean, and Tailwind.
Really helpful comment. Curious to hear thoughts on joining newer funds like Arcline / Percheron that don't have data points yet for exit opps. Any insight on the associate experience / if it's good for your career?
I think there is tremendous upside to those opportunities but obviously they are quite a bit riskier. On one hand, you may have a faster track to promotion / receiving carry, and on the other hand, there is always the risk that the fund does awfully and never really takes off. I do not personally know anyone at those funds but I would imagine it really depends on the firm (e.g., how top heavy they are, where the founders came from, how many other associates there are, etc.). It is more likely that these funds will not have many associates so you may have more opportunities to "step up" that you might normally get at larger, more established funds. My take is that it would be safer to try to go to a more established MM firm as an associate and then pivot to a newer fund as a senior associate or VP (I am also relatively risk averse). I would feel much more secure about a place like Patient Square (led by former KKR and Ares healthcare heads) that's raising a $3B first-time fund vs. a $400 million first-time fund raised by ex-Linden guys (zero offense to Linden - just picked them randomly to illustrate the point).
Do you know who the headhunter is for Patient Square?
Unfortunately, I do not.
Gold Coast
Any more info on Tailwind?
Nothing I know of really. Recruiting used to be run through SG a few years ago. $1.8B for last fund. Think that’s where Patrick worked.
What do you want to know?
Average work week for associates? Vacation policy? Comp #'s? At what time are you eligible for carry? Is MBA required for VP/Principal promote?
Good friend works there. Culture is top notch. Work schedule depends on your portcos, but generally 60-65 hours per week unless you’re chasing a deal. Cash comp is fair but nothing special, though carry at mid level is pretty good. Tailwind used to have good track record of promotions before raising fund 3, now the track is not as clear.
Thanks, sb'd. Adding this firm to my list of MMs for 2023 on-cycle (whenever that might happen lol). If you can think of any other MM funds that 1) Play in the industrials space 2) Have non-sweatshop hours or at least better than IB 3) competitive comp. 4) Definitely don't have to be in NYC, in fact almost prefer outside NYC but California is out of the question.
I guess I'm looking for the holy grail of MMs...
FYI tailwind does industrial services and distribution but is not buying manufacturers. I could list a bunch of industrial firms, but I don’t have insight into culture / hours and you’ll likely get a better list on this forum
Trilantic doesn't have Industrials per se but has a Business Services group. Can't add much here but they'd sent me an interview invite a few years ago.
Other MM funds that play in industrials space (not necessarily completely industrials focused / may not meet your other criteria) include Arsenal (NYC), SK Capital (NYC), Irving Place (NYC), American Industrial Partners (NYC), CCMP (NYC), Kohlberg (Mount Kisco), Greenbriar Equity (Rye), Arcline (SF so maybe not for you), Charlesbank (Boston), Audax (Boston), Arlington (DC), etc.
Industrials here can include manufacturing, packaging, chemicals, distribution, A&D, etc.
Any commentary on fund 3 performance? Also how does culture look across groups (believe they have industrials / HC / tech&servixes? Unless they are generalist within those)?
Culture generally is great, though each group has a different MO. The tech and business services team had some turnover recently (I think a Partner left?). Don’t know about performance, but they did a hospice deal that they sold 1-2 years later to TA.
Depends on your preferences. Same with like any job
All sound good
Who do you consider to be the premier UMMs?
NYC: New Mountain, American Securities, Veritas, maybe add in Welsh Carson. Centerbridge pays very well.
SF: Francisco, Genstar
Maybe LindsayGoldberg and CDR are up there. Prob others too. Those two come to mind first as solid, maybe more well-known UMM
GG good too. Carlyle has a solid MM fund. Often bigger places have good Mm funds too.
Lol Carlyle’s mid market fund is getting crushed
American securities, centerbridge, Kelso, Jordan, odyssey, hig, harvest, jc flowers, l catterton, little John, wcas, etc. Wikipedia has a nice list
JC Flowers is pretty shit. They were raising multi billion dollar funds a few funds ago and now they can barely raise a $1 billion fund. On multiple bake-off pitches, an MD has asked for them to be included on potential buyer lists only to then laugh and say "oops, forgot how small they are now. They can't afford this asset" and then cross them off the list.
These guys don't even belong on a list of top FIG-focused MM's in New York, let alone a list of top overall MMs in New York.
Advent
Is advent MM? I have a friend who works there and he's been making it sound like he was at one of the premier UMM/MF (?) shops but could be total cap.
Nothing about Advent would classify them as MM. Last fund was $17.5 billion. Advent is a global firm (presence in North America as well as in Europe, Asia, and Latin America). They teamed up with Cinven to do a $19 billion buyout of thyssenkrupp Elevator. They are a premier large cap fund.
Alright
Alright JCF is a legend
Some other MM in SF / Bay Area that come to mind and haven't seen mentioned:
-True Wind Capital: Fairly new, started by ex-KKR tech partner. Have also raised a couple SPACs
-Vector Capital: Tech, lots of distressed / complex work
-Gryphon Investors: Generalist. Heard kind of a sweatshop and seems to have a ton of senior folks
-Parthenon Capital: generalist in SF/Boston, apparently last couple of funds have done very well
-TSG Consumer: Consumer Focused in SF / NY
-Sumeru Equity: MM Tech
-Symphony Technology Group (STG): MM tech
-Serent Capital: generalist
-Carrick Capital
-Alpine Investors
For the shops above, does anyone have a sense for culture/hours/vacation/promotion requirements?
Any more info on Stellex?
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