Differences Between Traditional PE vs. Credit Funds

I understand that some people might choose to go into credit over conventional PE out of interest/preference, and vice versa, but what are some of the differences between the two. More specifically in the following areas:

  1. Number of total opportunities available
  2. Earning potential
  3. Recruiting timeline
  4. Ability to move among different firms within each industry (i.e jumping from one credit fund to another)
  5. Job security

I know both credit and PE are very broad terms and can mean many different things and forgive me if I am oversimplifying this. Any insight would be helpful thanks.

 

I hear you make less in credit funds versus PE LBO funds. At junior level the difference is minimal but the gap widens as you age. However, I hear the stress levels are also lower on credit side, as you don’t have a company to manage and there is less risk involved. This is just what I hear through the grapevine

Fuckin my way thru nyc one chick at a time
 

This article doesn’t answer any of your questions apart from providing a rough estimate on #1 (anecdotally I get the sense there are far fewer ‘small’ credit funds than private equity funds). Nonetheless I found it to be an interesting take on the landscape, especially given that some see the current credit market at a peak.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-28/carlyle-s-rubenstein…

 
Best Response

Are you talking about PE firms like Centerbridge and Apollo that invest in distressed debt out of their PE fund? They pay well above street (~$400k first year associate for both from what I've been told), similar hours, and probably a more interesting experience because of exposure to distressed for control opportunities.

Or are you talking about PE firms like TPG/Blackstone/Carlyle that have a credit platform (Castlelake/GSO/GMS)? They might pay below traditional PE, but they also invest out of a separate pool of capital (not PE)

 

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