Q&A: 1st Year Private Equity Analyst at a MF (KKR, BX, TPG, SLP, WP)

You pretty much mentioned all the options. I would say half of the analysts stay on as associates, while 40% move to HF's and 10% do business school or something non-finance.

Think this really depends on the firm. I know at least at my firm, analysts get just as involved as the associates do on deals. This results in analysts getting to run models (although the associates will usually get more reps at this given they already have 2 years of banking experience), lead various work streams, engage across all aspects of diligence, etc. The one downside is that at the end of the day, you are at the bottom of the totem pole and so will have to do some of the work that no one else wants to do (although this would be the same in IBD).

Definitely possible to break in through FT recruiting but you will most likely need to be in a top banking group (GS TMT, MS Tech, BX R&R, etc.) and network early on. My GPA going into SA recruiting was a high 3.8.

Really depends where you are on a deal process. So if we're at the early stages, we'll do a lot of higher-level research into the industry, company, P&L, and potentially building out a simple model to get comfortable with valuation/returns. If we're later along the deal process, we'll be working a lot more with advisers (bankers, lawyers, accountants, etc.), managing various work streams, and putting together decks for IC. Usually you're on 2-3 deals at a time so you'll be doing a variety of work. At the analyst level, a lot of it is power point and excel analysis, working with internal and external teams, and process management.

The learning curve is definitely tough and the job itself is more stressful than banking (higher expectations, no hand-holding). I think it was slightly easier for me given I had already worked a summer at the firm and knew how we did things, but ramping up from a SA to FT analyst is still difficult. After the first 3-4 months you start getting the hang of it though. Hours are between 60-80 depending on active deals and weekend work is minimal (although does pick up greatly when we're cranking on later-stage deals).

I would say 75% of our FT analysts previously summered with us, with the others coming from BB/EB or other MF's. I recruited for my firm via OCR since my school is a target (went through normal on-campus interviews, super day at the office, etc.). I previously interned at another PE fund (although smaller) in my sophomore summer.

Assuming you're asking if HH's reached out over the summer. I did get a couple of emails from other funds who were running exclusive processes but I was really enjoying my summer and felt no need to switch. Have a couple friends at some of the top IBD groups and I got most of the same emails as they did.

I'm definitely liking the work so far, obviously it's still a grind as a 1st year and a lot to learn. I felt like I had a pretty good view on what the FT work would be like since I summered here so nothing too surprising.

In the 3-4 months I've been here, I've felt like I've gotten a pretty broad exposure to all the work responsibilities you mentioned. Do think its been a bit less modelling-intensive as I may have anticipated as the associates usually get staffed with those given they already have 2 years if banking experience (although I've been told this will pick up as I get more reps and ramp up fully). I think banking is helpful if you want a less stressful environment to learn basics (financial concepts, excel, modelling, putting together powerpoints). I never thought this would be helpful for me as I already had two summers of PE experience and didn't need the formal training.

Depends on the firm, but many will allow analysts to get promoted to the associate level or even past that. A lot of analysts however decide to leave to HF's.

1. Club leadership
2. Win some kind of recognizeable competition in something that you can put on your resume.
3. Be interesting. Work abroad, have some kind of adventure.

All in comp is around $200K

Haven't gotten that far yet so hard to answer how I plan to hedge my bets, but all PE firms will give their analysts promo offers during the same time they are running associate recruiting (so January). If analysts are going to recruit, they usually don't recruit for other PE funds, but will gun for HF's. Definitely have seen some people jump between PE funds but its just a harder question to answer ("why do you want to switch from x firm to y firm if both are MF's").

Yes we had a global training in NY where all the analysts across different offices came together. Its not done through external firms however, as the training isn't as standard as banking training, and thus done in-house.

You're right, HBS and GSB are the most popular. Not sure on what the success rate is but I'd say about 10-20% of our analysts will elect to go down the business school route, with half of them going to HBS and half going to GSB (small minority going to Wharton). Deciding between them really comes down to personal preferences (Boston vs. Palo Alto) as well as professional goals (if you want to do tech / VC you'd pick GSB and if you want the more traditional post business school route you'd pick HBS).

Depends on how active / intensive the deal is. For our larger deals we'll have all hand on deck. This results in 1 analyst, 1-2 associates, 1 principal, 1 VP, 1 MD, and 1 MP all on the deal team. For smaller deals (e.g. bolt-on acquisitions for our portcos) we'll only have 1-2 analysts / associates and 1-2 senior guys.

I know people then have gone form PE---HF. It's because HF pay is still higher than associate pay at PE. Also, the work is more intellectually stimulating, and there's a whole lot less grunt work. Sure, the industry as a whole may be in decline, but it will still exist and pay really well for the forceable future.

I worked at a smaller PE firm in my sophomore summer. Almost all the analysts have pretty intensive finance backgrounds (school and prior internships wise). This is a function of having to work in PE right out of school and not going through the 2 years of banking prep.

Typically not, at that point they would just wait for associate hires.

They typically run their FT processes in late July - early August. I would recommend speaking to people to learn more about the firm as early as you can and then stay in contact with them. Once you know you're in good standing to get a FT offer to the bank you're summering with, reach out again to inquire about FT opps.