London / European Headhunters

Hi guys,

I was wondering if you know which are the best / most connected / most helpful London headhunters / firms (who recruit analysts for PEs or other IBD BBs).
Also any that one should definitely stay away from?

Cheers,
ibc

33 Comments
 
Xaipe

Blackstone, SilverLake recruit through KEA Consultants. Terra Firma, CPP IB, Centerview recruit through Dartmouth Partners. Greenhill recruits through FreshMinds.

BX use PER, for IBD and PE.
"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

BX uses a variety of sources, so do most other firms with some of them going exclusively through one headhunter. All names above are fairly good (dartmouth and fresh minds not so much) plus any of these will have access to the good funds: Arkesden, Walker Hamil, Parker Linton

"too good to be true" See my WSO Blog
 
GBB_19NHS

BX uses a variety of sources, so do most other firms with some of them going exclusively through one headhunter. All names above are fairly good (dartmouth and fresh minds not so much) plus any of these will have access to the good funds: Arkesden, Walker Hamil, Parker Linton

i wouldn't work with WH, not very honorable people (generalizing here).
"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
Best Response

KEA does the most megafund PE recruiting. Generally good at what they do, but tend to be picky about the candidates they work with. If you're not at a top bank (GS / JPM / MS / elite boutiques) or a top team, they can be unfriendly. Blackwood cover a broad range of PE roles. Really pleasant people to deal with and very helpful throughout the recruiting process. Dartmouth used to cover mainly IB roles, but have been building out their buyside coverage. Nice people but I feel like they can be a bit disorganised. I know Arkesden are pretty good for IB recruiting, but I don't know much about what buyside roles they have access to.

Avoid Pinpoint Partners like the plague and never send them your CV, as they will circulate without your permission.

 

that efinancialcareers list is not really useful though, the askivy.net one is great and spot on

The headhunters with the most mandates are PER by very far. But by the way, its quite hard to move from BB US to European PE. I would try to make an internal move to London within the bank and start networking locally. Or try to go to a global fund and move internally...

 

KEA is great for PE not so much for hedge funds. Mirage is pretty good for long short. Hinton Rose is quite good for macro, distressed, anything non l/s related. Many other roles just come through random headhunters and private connections so there is not a single source best for HF recruiting. I would literally talk to as many headhunters as possible to spread your net wide - also approach people at funds directly.

"too good to be true" See my WSO Blog
 

any language helps, particular though German, Spanish or Italian. French is not going to hurt neither. By speaking I mean you should be able to talk to locals about businesses and read all relevant reports etc. in their language.

"too good to be true" See my WSO Blog
 
GBB_19NHS

any language helps, particular Spanish or Italian.

This is key. Debt funds hiring a lot.

[quote]The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.[/quote]
 

Are you currently at uni? If so, apply through on-campus recruiting. If not, attempt referral through a friend first, as that will give you a leg up. I've heard about McKinsey using headhunters for specific first/second year slots in Europe, but not sure whether that is the norm.

 

I don't think I can help with your original request, but if you don't mind: What do yo do in player valuation?

I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. See my Blog & AMA
 

Not even surprised you burned out.

[quote]The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.[/quote]
 

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