LA PE Firms Rep / Culture - LGP, Ares, Platinum Equity, Marlin Equity
Hey everyone,
I saw an outdated thread on LA PE firms. I am mainly seeking to look feedback on the rep / culture / success for the following firms: LGP, Ares, Platinum Equity, Marlin Equity
Any information would be great - thanks.
I tried to reply a long response but the app bugged out and said authoring mode not allowed. I’ll try again later
Thanks, would appreciate it!
I can comment on a few. LA overall is a growing PE market with more demand for jobs, given lifestyle and better culture and intersection of consumer tech and media.
LGP known to be to be solid investor, consumer retail focused but does the occasional TMT and industrials deal. small team, ok culture, pays above street, interview process is very investment thesis focused and will ask a lot of various business models and views on those. standard LBO test with CIM, expect to present to a room of 3-4 people including a partner usually. Expect a private company but larger size of the case. 90% on cycle with 1-2 spots maybe off cycle.
Marlin - top 10% returns across PE funds period. extremely diligent and disciplined about their investments. focused on software but does some tech services. AUM expected to grow quickly in the next year. interview process is standard but again tech centric. 1-3 rounds over the phone, in person superday that takes like 2/3 of a business day with abridged CIM, 3-statement LBO, and a series of interviews with partner VPs and senior associates. they go on cycle for 80% of spots with the remaining off cycle but no guarantees on timing. usually late in the year.
Ares - top tier firm, bad culture, bad hours, cutthroat promotion standards, good pay. difficult interview process and they go on cycle. if you can make it here, you can generally make it anywhere.
Apollo - same as Area. had 1 interview there. guy was a hardo. immediately didn’t want to continue.
Thanks, very helpful post. Are there any resources that you think are good practice for the LGP case? Any similar LBO/CIM cases online to study?
Can you elaborate on the cutthroat promotion standards?
Was this gathered from your own recruiting process? Just wondering if this was a few years ago or more recent as I have a peripheral friend that works there and had great things to say about the people he works with and the hours (when not on a live deal lol). He also echoed that the interview process was tough and pay was great.
Good post. Only thing LGP is a diversified investor not Consumer focused. Would say services focused more than anything (e.g. hc services -> chg healthcare, consumer services -> wrench group etc.) But do all kinds of deals.
All are pretty top notch shops in terms of reputation. I think deciding between them depends more upon which types of deals you are interested in.
LGP does very well in the consumer goods / business services space. Ares and Platinum focus more on distressed deals / searching for bargains. Marlin focuses on software.
Any info on Gores? Pretty cool looking office in BH.
Platinum has a terrible reputation in terms of deal behavior and in terms of personalities at the senior level. There's always been a ton of turnover there.
That being said, you'll get some interesting and good experience there.
Echo above on Platinum. LGP seems like they're really nice people based on my interactions. Marlin also seems like a good culture - interviewed with them. They used to be value but have shifted more to growth. Ares is a bit of a black box to me but I know they pay above mkt. For me personally LGP would be the best gig in LA.
Any advice from your interview with Marlin?
I responded. Marlin does in general look at consultants but not for investment team - for their ops team yes.
Do you know what the comp/progression is at Marlin? I've heard a lot of mixed things about their culture - do you have any second hand info?
Their promotion schedule is pretty average (4 years to VP) but no MBA required which is the big plus. don’t think that’s the case at Platinum or LGP.
what did you hear about their culture?
does anyone have info on the Ares RE team? specifically in LA/NY
.
Anyone know about Aurora?
From what I've seen, there's a ton of senior ppl at Ares that are associate promotes, so I'm surprised to hear their culture isn't great if people are staying that long. Also know their pay is top notch. Marlin's performance has been top quartile and the place to go if you want to do software, but have heard mixed things on culture
.
can anyone speak to brentwood or seidler
I’m curious on these two as well if anyone has insight.
.
What’s comp look like?
Have a friend there who said Assoc 1’s clear 300k plus a 50k signing bonus so all in first year over 350
.
Can anyone speak to Riverside in LA?
Curious about this too
From a friend who works there, Ares actually has a very good culture and reasonable hours. Culture used to be hard-nosed, a lot of those senior guys have turned over and the next generation of partners are nice people and good to work with. Hours are typically <70-80 for junior guys, minimal weekend work unless on a deal. On the LBO side they actually do a lot more growth investing / high quality assets and combine that with a distressed strategy (the same team works on both).
Comp is very competitive. I don't know about junior level, but VPs make $500-675K (from year 1 to 3/4) + carry.
The same team doing distressed is doing late stage growth? Any idea what their playbook typically looks like for the distressed side of things?
Interested
.
Haha. I’m curious, do you mean the hours aren’t actually that good or you don’t really look at more growthy/high quality asset deals like the user above mentioned?
Current Ares employee here. Above is spot on with regards to culture, investment style, and comp. Couple years ago the firm made a drastic change and got rid of some “bad apples” at the top and really tried to overhaul the experience, especially for the juniors (the difference is stark). Additionally, most people don’t know this and assume Ares is a pure value oriented shop because of their strong credit roots and distressed capabilities, but on the buyouts side they are one of the “growthiest” shops out there (think LGP, EQT type stuff). Their traditional PE arm (ACOF) also flexes into distressed in counter cyclical environments and also now has a dedicated fund doing this as well (Special Opportunities Fund). On comp, poster is in line as well.
Can you talk more about their growth equity capabilities. Is this separate from the Special Opportunities Fund, i.e. is the Special Opportunities Fund solely Distressed/Special Situations or do they have the ability to expand into other investment areas like growth?
In regards to culture, with the changes you mentioned, is Ares primarily a 2 and out program at the associate level or is there an opportunity to stay without an MBA and if so, how likely is that? Is it better to wait until the VP level before leaving the sell side?
.
How many hours would you say that you are actually working ?
Does anyone know any LA PE firms that are more consultant-friendly / open to hiring consultants?
Marlin has historically hired consultants
Not sure about Clearlake but their headhunter kept dangling the "they are looking to hire more consultants, 1 (she may have said 2, but think she said 1) of every class.
You can check their team page to confirm.
Uhh why no mention of Oaktree lol. They crush it and their PE-oriented groups have some cool ppl
How does Oaktree Distressed opportunities compare to Ares Special Opportunities?
Can’t speak to distressed opportunities at Oaktree, but their Special Sits group is one of the best in the biz. 2 associate seats a class so near impossible to break in, but if you do, seems like people exit to the most exclusive hedge funds (canyon partners, Elliott, etc.)
Does anyone know how Ares comp progresses for the RE teams? Specifically analyst to associate to VP? Also are hours of 70-80 in-line for RE teams as well?
.
Any update on comp/bonus for analysts/associates for RE?
Who are the best recruiters for LA PE opportunities?
Carter Pierce
Oxbridge
M
L
Zzz am
Bump, any LA firms with notably good hours? Willing to take a pay cut to live life.
Shamrock
Quo eum nam enim sunt quam aperiam. Delectus nihil est libero. Aperiam vero molestiae hic non ut. Nihil voluptas assumenda quo consectetur voluptatem incidunt.
Vel dolor necessitatibus sint quidem nihil maxime et. Laborum atque quidem et error voluptatum rerum. Omnis nemo consectetur ab magni. Autem aliquam a explicabo voluptatem ullam dolorum. Harum cum tempora ea illo asperiores consequuntur.
Quo itaque aliquam quibusdam quis fuga. Voluptatem beatae eveniet qui quas nemo odio ut. Atque sed quibusdam atque ratione quibusdam eum. Cupiditate tenetur rerum optio voluptatem. Mollitia itaque voluptatem ut voluptatem delectus ut. Id deserunt fugiat dolor aut repellendus quia.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Quas aut recusandae amet blanditiis eveniet id. Voluptatem sit corrupti quia enim omnis pariatur. Sit dolor laborum vitae quis quo eaque sunt iure.
Voluptatibus quae aliquam voluptas architecto. Quis at aliquid mollitia. Eaque deleniti animi nostrum eos quae totam nobis blanditiis. Iure aut neque optio reprehenderit qui.
Nihil aut consequatur aperiam aspernatur. Ducimus dolorem est molestiae corrupti. Labore qui porro est quibusdam illum.
Ea mollitia cupiditate quaerat provident a. Nobis quibusdam labore doloribus suscipit autem. Eius incidunt vero velit tempora amet quae. Est qui nam voluptas fugit non. Aperiam aut facere fuga perferendis nisi voluptas esse.