Private Equity in South Florida
A lot of threads are outdated from what I see. South Florida has better weather, the beach/ocean and more golf. Below are some SoFlo PE funds ($400M+; non-RE/energy) with last fund size and IRR listed (if available from PB).
Looking for insight into associate programs (after 2 years of IB). Specifically, any insight into:
- culture/hours
- experience/day-to-day (time spent sourcing/investment evaluation/acquisitions/operations)
- recruiting process (headhunters, case studies, on/off cycle, number of associates per year)
- chance of associate -> VP without MBA
- possibility to move from NY location to SoFlo location (i.e. HIG/SunCap)
- performance/fund outlook or any other comments would be greatly appreciated
Digital Colony (Boca) - $4B 2019; mobile and internet infrastructure – towers, data centers, small cells, and fiber
Sun Capital (Boca) - $2.3B closed 2019; $2.1B 2013 vintage shows 39% IRR
Norwest Equity (West Palm) - HQ in MN but new office; $1.6B 2015
AE Industrial Partners (Boca) - $1.36B 2018; $680M 2015 shows 25% IRR
HIG Capital (Miami) - HIG Strategic Partners $1.3B 2018; Middle Market Fund $3.1B 2019; 2014 Middle Market shows 31% IRR
Comvest (West Palm) - $836M 2017 shows 13% IRR; 2015 shows 1% IRR
Trivest (Miami) - $630M Fund VI 2018; Fund V was $415M 2012 with 22% IRR
Atlantic Street (CT with satellite in West Palm) - $500M closed 2019;
New Water Capital (Boca) - $406M 2015 shows IRR 1%
Don't sleep on Trivest -- $900M latest fund if I recall correctly.
HIG has (at least a few years ago) a reputation as being an extremely aggressive culture. They are largely "bottom feeders" and -- while returns are good -- they are known for high volume bidding (often at insultingly low prices) which translates into an absurd amount of low-ROI work for juniors
One thing you'll notice if you look at these shops is most people have some ties to South Florida... plenty of people get the idea of "I'll move to this warmer locale" but it's such a culturally distinct area that retention is tougher without existing ties.