Private Equity Funds of Funds: “PE Lite” or Equally Attractive Finance Job?

Few jobs cause as much confusion as those with “finance” or “fund” or “equity” somewhere in their titles.

We’ve already looked at the fun distinction between FIG vs. Financial Sponsors vs. DCM vs. Leveraged Finance in previous articles, so today we’ll turn our attention to the 2nd most confusing topic: what you do at a fund of funds – and how a private equity fund of funds differs from other types.

PE funds of funds sit somewhere between traditional private equity and asset / fund management roles, so the recruiting process and what you do on the job are also “in between” both of those.

And that means that these roles could be great for you, terrible for you, or… somewhere in between (a shocking conclusion, I know).

Our interviewee today will break it down for you, including how to get in, what the recruiting process is like and how technical questions and case studies differ, what you actually do at PE funds of funds, and the types of candidates they’re looking for.

Then, in Part 2, we’ll dive into what you do on the job in more detail and all the juicy details on pay, deals, exit opps, and more. Let’s go:

From Commercial Banking to PE Fund of Funds: The Path Not Taken?

From Big 4 Accounting to Private Equity at a Canadian Pension Fund: A One-Way Ticket to Earning More and Becoming a Deal-Maker?

A few of the previous interviews/articles I’ve done on Canada have attracted… a bit of controversy.

By “a bit,” I mean, of course, “lots of violent and hateful comments threatening myself and/or the interviewee.”

So the logical thing is to try it one more time.

This one’s a bit different from previous interviews, though, because our interviewee skipped investment banking altogether and moved straight from a Big 4 firm into private equity at a large pension fund – one of the top exit opportunities in Canada.

Here’s what you’ll get from the story he’s about to share:

• How to move from an accounting role at a Big 4 firm to a financial advisory role, and then finally into private equity – and skip banking altogether.
• What to expect in the recruiting process at a Canadian pension fund, and how it compares to traditional private equity recruiting.
• What the pension fund industry in Canada is like, and why you’ll almost certainly have to work at one if you’re interested in PE there.
• What it’s like on the job at a pension fund, from hours to culture, work, pay, and more.

From Financial Advisory to Private Equity

Private Equity on TV vs. Real Life: The Infographic

One of the first questions we got on Cost of Capital was how “realistic” it was.

Do Associates really get abused that much and suffer through so much crap, even in private equity?

Do characters like David, Byron, Todd and Leonard truly exist in real life?

Rather than answering all of those with text (the boring method), we decided to use an infographic that breaks down everything for you – just click the image below to get the large version:

Private Equity: TV vs. Real Life – The Infographic

Click the image below to view the Large version or click right here.