What does WLB look like for Principals at MF REPE firms?
Hi all,
Wondered if anyone could shed some light on what WLB look like for principals & MDs at the likes of Carlyle/KKR/Blackstone in their REPE teams? Specifically, is there flexibility when one has young children, meaning can you go home to the wife and kids at 6/7 and log back in after they have gone to bed?
Does anyone know any firms that do offer a better lifestyle whilst not compromising too much on experience, promotional opportunities and compensation?
Thanks
Hi Analyst 1 in PE - LBOs, just trying to help:
More suggestions...
You're welcome.
I worked at a top 3 MF and saw VPs across Acq/AM/PM going home at 10pm regularly and staying online until 12am. During heavy weeks they'd be online until 2am sometimes.
My VP had kids and would consistently miss dinner with the family and would generally leave around 9pm and log back in at home until 11pm-12am. Weekends, they would be on for about 2-4 hours a day, excluding heavy weeks or when deliverables were due early next week. They'd probably work 8-10 hours on Sunday in that case.
My MD was often online until 10-11pm, but this was consistent even during lighter weeks when the rest of the team would be off by 9-10pm. They probably just had a ton of meetings consistently. But they would also get to leave the office by 7-8pm (after dinner) and log back in from 9-11pm. Weekends were the same as VP if not more, given the absurd number of hours of meetings they had to sit in.
I left when I saw the writing on the wall. I wasn't going to be mid 30s, VP at an MF, pulling ~1M/year, no kids unless I want them to grow up without a paternal presence, and having absolutely no time for any semblance of a meaningful social life or "cracking a cold one with the boys" consistently on Saturdays.
We even ran a Fantasy Football league but never had time to watch games together as a team since we were all busy working, and not getting to watch the games anyways.
Sound miserable.
Absolutely. Quite deflating for me knowing I will likely have to leave once I reach that point
Yuck. So are the hours at the new place better? How big is the new shop?
Yup, pulling 40 hours consistently at a LMM / MM shop (currently ~100M in the pipeline for size reference).
Could I PM you about this please?
Sure thing
This is really insightful thank you. There was a big part of me that wanted it to get better at the principal level (roughly 6 years from now) to allow me to have a family but it sounds like that isn't realistic.
I know each of the MF have great brands, so do you know what chances one would have lateraling to another fund with better WLB at a director level with potentially meaningful carry? Did you make a move or are you still at the MF?
Unfortunately I don't know what lateraling looks like at the senior level, but I would imagine getting carry would be a function of how much revenue you're expected to generate for the new firm via industry connections, or how much value you add to the deal process if you're not sourcing/originating.
I left the MF and moved to a much smaller LMM / MM shop and have carry promised to me after 3 years of working here.
Is this top 3 MF from a strict PE perspective or top 3 from a REPE perspective?
I was speaking more from the perspective of BX/KKR/Carlyle but I know that of the three BX is really the only one who is a top 3 REPE shop.
awesome thread. i too would get out pretty quickly for a small shop. you've learned what your'e gonna learn, you've met who you're gonna meet, you can now make money other ways.
this is how i viewed fraternities in college - pledge, become a brother, then stop wasting money on dues and get out and find your own way. youv'e made the friends you're gonna make.
At the level of MD I do not know what you could be doing that requires you to log in at 2am on a consistent basis.
Especially at a MF, where you have tons of resources and staff, what could you possibly be working on? At these levels you are mostly having meetings, raising capital, maintaining relationships, etc. To stay up until even 11pm I would think your modeling, in the weeds in some legal docs, or putting together presentations. All that stuff is not MD or even above associate level work.
Wtf would you be doing? However, I do see some MD level types typing with 2 fingers, so actually, yes, maybe they are up late formatting a Word doc.
Curious as well
The MDs are working until 2 AM because there is just tons to do. What you may not realize is that they may have less to do from 3 PM to 6 PM, and so they leave early, but than something pops up when they are home. On top of that, although they are an ‘MD’, they are still just a cog in the wheel of these big corporate machines. There is the Senior MD and executive committee on top of them that drive their work day. Especially if they aren’t on investment committee.
As an anecdote, I know the head of Asset Management (real estate) at one of the larger funds. This person may leave the office at 4, have nothing to do, and than something happens and they log in from 11 PM to 3 AM. It just comes with the territory of a global firm / portfolio. The stresses change as you move up because you are making decisions and thinking. And you still need to read and be aware of what’s going on because you need to brief the person who works above you, even if you run the team.
Sounds like its better to get the branding and experience as a junior and then leave for a firm working in more concentrated geographies, otherwise that sounds like IBD levels of unpredictability which can't be nice to deal with when you're 35 and want to see your kids grow up
I interned at one of these firms last summer. Granted it was in the middle of covid so couldn’t gauge exact office time as everyone was remote, but seemed like most VP’s and above typically went offline from 7-9 and then hopped back on from 9-11, think hours at my firm were considerably better than other MF’s.
Even this is pretty crazy to me to be doing this long-term (inclusive of weekends). It just seems like before you know it, you'll be 50, kids going to college and you'll be somewhat shocked ay where the years have gone.
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