Want to move to Chicago PE?
I've been located on the West Coast for essentially my entire life and have been thinking about moving cities for some time now. I don't really have anything tying me down here (aka single) so would love to be able to experience living in a different part of the country while I have the chance. I don't know if I would enjoy living in NYC, but have been entertaining possibly moving to Chicago. I have close friends that are from there so have visited a few times and really liked it each time I went. But don't know too much about the PE landscape in Chicago and if this is a viable move. I'm not necessarily looking to go to a MF / UMM type shop (and I'm at a MM fund right now) so flexible with size. However, I'm somewhat worried that I don't have a strong enough reason that someone would want to hire me / that there aren't even enough open positions out there that it would be likely I could make the move. I would appreciate any insight anyone might have on the PE environment in Chicago, any tips for recruiting, or any other suggestions for cities to potentially move to?
Vistria
CIVC
BDT - Henkel
MDP - CPI
GTCR - Dynamics
Linden
Granite Creek
Flexpoint Ford
Shore Capital (interesting strategy)
Waud Capital
Valor Equity
Vista
Thoma Bravo(?)
Just email VPs at all of them, shoot the shit for a bit, and then ask about recruiting
Windpoint, Wynnchurch, Patty Beecken, Sterling is technically still around, Silver Oak off the top of my head. I think Magic Johnson's infra fund is chicago based too.
Parker Gale
More detail on Shore?
Micro cap rollups of healthcare, expanding into F&B I think, founder is a maniac who has plenty of money already and is not doing it for the money (who knows why), can't remember their IRR but when I heard about it it was absolutely jaw dropping, sadly not available on Pitchbook but they know how to make money
anyone have any idea on comp numbers at these places. especially ones on the smaller end like silver oak and shore?
$175-200k all in I’d think.
Boston has a good amount of funds without the nyc cost of living. Higher than Chicago but different vibe. Maybe look at funds in texas/Florida as well for the no income tax.
Personally would not recommend Boston to anyone who is single and/or doesn't have familiarity with New England culture and people
Can you provide a bit more context? I’m from Boston so I really cannot appreciate the city from an outsider’s perspective, but the city has an insane number of universities and a significant number of people who graduate each year stay in Boston, even if they didn’t grow up there.
PE in Chicago has always struck me as punching below the city's weight. It's a trading city at heart, and while there are a couple larger funds, there just aren't that many $1bn+ ones. Sounds like that's OK with you though, and there's a fair number of in the range under that - a good place to start might be the PEAC book, if it still is around.
Outside of that, Chicago is a pretty good place to live. Shitty winters but great summers, low COL relative to other big cities (like, you can buy a house with a yard or rooftop in a good neighborhood for a lot less than you would think). Maybe also check out Austin? Don't know if you'll like it, I just happen to
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