Hi everyone,
After spending some time going over threads about Infra PE on WSO, I realized there's very limited info on the recruiting aspect for top infra funds.
Can someone who has gone through the recruiting process for any of these funds shed some light on them? Some insight regarding preferred background/experience, compensation and culture would be great.
I am also wondering how feasible is it to move from another infra fund into these funds at the Analyst/Associate level.
Appreciate any and all help!
Would also like to know about lateraling into a larger fund
Infra PE is still relatively unknown by most monkeys, meaning that processes tend to not have 1.7 billion applicants. Infra PE simply isn’t as sexy as traditional PE. My experience interviewing at a few of the top MM-UMM North American groups is as follow:
-Relatively quick processes. One process took less than a month to reach final round, the other took a week from the moment the headhunter introduced me to the team.
-Compensation tracks traditional PE both in terms of amounts and structure, at least where I’m at and from what I’ve gathered.
-Hours are on the low side, with ~65h on average, although I’ve experienced significant upward swings approaching bid dates (90ish), which still isn’t as bad compared to IB.
-Culture is pretty laid back. Lots of engineers and people with relatively atypical backgrounds compared to your pure-finance fields. People on investment teams tend to have IB power & utilities, engineering or M&A experience.
-Modeling work can be quite extensive given long-term nature of infrastucture projects (think 40-100 year forecasts on a monthly basis with several refinancings and large capex projects along the way).
-Traveling occurs on a monthly basis but not as regularly as in other fields (ie consulting). Site visits, management presentations, board meetings, etc.
Lots of technical stuff to be learned along the way, but highly interesting work with problem-solving oriented people. Overall, I’ve been positively surprised by the amount of brainwork required, particularly during very competitive bid processes. I don’t see why someone from a traditional PE fund couldn’t move into an infra fund at the analyst/associate level. Haven’t seen it happen all that much but I doubt there’s an actual reason.
Have you seen folks move from infrastructure consulting (for example at a Big 4) to investment teams at Infra PE groups? Was it tougher for them than for people from traditional finance backgrounds?
I do know of a few that did it and they seem to be doing just fine, though I do not work with them directly. I’d assume that someone from a Big 4 infra group would likely fit in as well as someone from a IB power group, although IB power would give transactional experience whereas Big 4 may not (or at least not as much).
CorneliusLux has a good summary. Infra/power isn’t quite as arcane a world as O&G but it’s certainly got its own lingo, constraints, models, etc.
One thing that’s pretty interesting (at least to some people) is the myriad players in the power world given that it’s such a heavily regulated industry. Beyond firm/investor/customer you have state and federal regulators, politicians, suppliers, generators, etc. so if nerding out about all of the dynamics at play is your cup of tea the sky’s the limit in terms of the amount you can learn.
Make no mistake recruiting is still very competitive but it’s not the same as the generalist buyout pipeline and mostly attracts guys from a power or M&A background. Engineers abound as noted, typically because it helps to understand or at least be familiar with the types of capital power companies deal in.
Thanks for the detailed insight!
I was surprised by the depth of the modeling work during my internship but for me that was one of the major points that drove me towards choosing a career in the space.
One other question I had was what are some of the skills you'd need to sharpen up at the junior level to make lateral moves later on i.e. at the associate level?
I’d suggest the following:
-Critical thinking: get in a habit of asking yourself “why?”. Why aren’t you seeing a bigger impact when you run sensitivity X, Y or Z? Why would you expected higher O&M costs at this facility compared to the next? Constantly trying to reach a higher level of understanding with regards to everything that you do a pushing the rationale to the point where you fully understand what you’re looking is drastically overlooked at the intern and analyst level. It becomes vital as an associate and upwards, which is something that can take time to learn, therefore giving you an advantage over associates when looking to make a move.
-Relationships: don’t wait before building professional relationships with bankers and lawyers. You’ll be exposed to a decent amount as an analyst (depending on where on land I suppose), so take advantage of that if you’re given the opportunity. P&U and infra PE is a relatively small world, so take advantage of that during interviews (and obviously at various levels of your career).
-Dig: due diligence can get long and heavy, especially for particularly large deals involving portfolio of assets. Get into the habit of digging for information, because scratching the surface and pretending like you went deep enough to be satisfied with your findings can be the difference between being great and being alright at the job.
-Be the person with the answers: this pretty much sums it all up. Don’t be the person that says “I’ll get back to you on that”. Force yourself to learn every aspect, however seemingly unimportant, of a deal. Know your assets inside and out.
Thanks for the detailed insight!
I was surprised by the depth of the modeling work during my internship but for me that was one of the major points that drove me towards choosing a career in the space.
One other question I had was what are some of the skills you'd need to sharpen up at the junior level to make lateral moves later on i.e. at the associate level?
Regarding MIRA, i have mostly seen people trying to get out of MIRA rather get into. In terms of culture and compensation it doesnt seem to be a top tier place. Unless you guys have different echos.
On a similar note, I am curious about infra arms of mega funds such as KKR, BX. How do they compare in terms of quality of the teams and culture.
Interested in what you've heard about MIRA (culture, comp, etc.)
Really? Thats surprising to hear. I always assumed MIRA pays top dollar for their investment groups.
Any updates on this?
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