Canadian PE shops

Does anyone here have experience with any of the top Canadian PE shops, just trying to figure out who the top TIER 1 PE shops are in Canada. Any insight into experience, hours, culture, comp. would be greatly appreciated. What would be the ranking of tier 1 shops?

Potential Tier 1 List: Onex Birch Hill EdgeStone Ontario Teachers Torquest

22 Comments
 

By any means should be considered a top tier pe shop: lots of money (more than even the KKR, bstone, tpg's of the world could dream of) BUT they are not a great destination for one simple reason: comp

Because at the end of the day it is a pension fund, there is a limit to how much bonuses can be. On the other hand hours and lifestyle is fantastic. Classic old school pe, where a lot of your time is being spent being wined and dined by bankers.

 

Onex's mid-cap group, ONCAP, is very well respected in their niche.

Richardson Partners is also pretty active.

Tricap (Brookfield's distressed/restructuring fund) is very good.

Some Tier 2 players include CAI (Toronto/Vancouver), Tricor (Vancouver), Kilmer (Toronto)

 

Yes, should not be too bad especially if you have an Fin spon. or M&A background.

Generally, you can get the interview and then it is based on your skills and how you present yourself.

I'm just trying to determine how to compare the Tier 1 players in Canada - just not much info on them out there.

 
ibanker2006Yes, should not be too bad especially if you have an Fin spon. or M&A background.

I would argue otherwise. Having a background in Sponsors or M&A will definitely help, but competition is extremely tight.

Also, the top tier players hire ballers (e.g. check out the profiles of the youngest guys at firms like Onex). Many of them worked in NY at Lazard and JPM.

 

I think Onex comp would be at ~200k, others tier 1 canadian PE shops would be 160-170k range.

Onex aside, most other Tier 1 PE shops seems to be pretty similar. Don't think you can go wrong with either of them - i guess the main key is to see their culture. Some are intense like a bank, others have a small group headed by a great individual that is well known in the industry.

 

are you referring to comp all-in or is that just base? if its just base, what would the bonuses look like for associates?

 

what range of compensation can 3rd yr associates at PE firms expect? I would guess that at that stage, they should be entitled to some type of carry correct?

 

Sounds like a great place to work, but how big a gap is there in term of compensation relative to an Onex or EdgeStone (i.e. at the analyst, associate levels). Also, what would the difference in hours be?

 

is it worth coming back? I went to target UK school and did work at an Ivy and now at a top boutique with experience at BB in London. Is it worth coming back to Toronto for Private equity? Is the volume of business there? Onex looks interesting and along my lines in terms of pedigree. What's your work/life balance and variety of clientele like?

 

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