by Brian DeChesare Comments (14)

Private Equity Analyst Roles: The Best Way to Skip Investment Banking?

Private Equity Analyst

A long time ago, Private Equity Analyst positions did not exist.

Banks hired the top students out of undergrad for Investment Banking Analyst roles, which was a nice arrangement for private equity firms: let banks recruit the “best and the brightest,” and then swoop in to hire away trained bankers.

But then someone in private equity asked the key question:

“Wait, why not just hire our own Analysts? Why conduct an accelerated recruiting process to fight over the same people at the top banks, when we could hire them directly out of undergrad and groom them ourselves?”

And like that, Private Equity Analyst positions were born.

Here’s what they’re like, why you might pick one over an IB Analyst role, and what to expect in an average day on the job:

What Do Private Equity Firms Do?

You should read our coverage of private equity and the private equity career path if you don’t yet know the answer to this one.

But to recap for the 998th time, PE firms raise capital from outside investors, use it to buy companies, improve them over time, and then sell those companies to realize a return.

As an Analyst, you’re at the bottom of the hierarchy (OK, except for interns), which means that you do all the work that “has to get done.”

Senior people in private equity focus on fundraising, sourcing deals, representing the firm, and making the final investment decisions.

Junior people, such as Analysts and Associates, focus on deal execution, monitoring portfolio companies, and generating and screening new deals.

The Private Equity Analyst Job Description

Some PE firms use the terms “Analyst” and “Associate” interchangeably, and some even advertise roles as “Analyst / Associate.”

For our purposes, however, Analysts are different from Associates because:

  1. They are hired directly out of undergrad or non-MBA Master’s program – not out of investment banking, management consulting, or Big 4 firms. Therefore, they have minimal or no full-time work experience.
  2. In many cases, Analyst roles are not Partner-track positions, so you won’t be expected to stay at the firm for the long term.
  3. Analysts tend to work on specific aspects of deals and potential deals rather than coordinating the entire process from beginning to end.
  4. Analysts are rarely, if ever, involved in fundraising or other “firm representation” activities.

On paper, Analysts and Associates might perform many of the same tasks:

  • Building financial models.
  • Reviewing CIMs submitted by bankers who are selling companies.
  • Monitoring portfolio companies.
  • Conducting due diligence on potential investments.
  • Cold calling to source new deals.

But as with the Investment Banking Associate vs. Analyst distinction, there are some subtle differences.

For example, if an Analyst and Associate are both reviewing a potential investment that bankers are pitching to them, here’s how their tasks might differ:

  • The Analyst might build an initial, simpler financial model for the company, complete data gathering tasks, and perform industry research on the company and its competitors.
  • The Associate might review the Analyst’s work and coordinate with the outside legal and accounting teams to begin reviewing all the files; he might also build a more complex model if the deal advances to the next stage.

The exact differences also depend on the size of the firm.

For example, an Analyst at a mega-fund like KKR or Blackstone would do more of the “modeling / data / analysis” work, while one at a middle-market fund with a flatter structure might act more like an Associate.

A Day in the Life: What Does a Private Equity Analyst Do?

An average day in the life of a PE Analyst depends on:

  • The types of deals the firm does (growth equity vs. middle-market vs. large-cap) and the strategies it uses (e.g., add-on acquisitions vs. operational improvements vs. financial engineering).
  • Deal activity, including whether or not any deals are close to the finish line.
  • The firm and how it treats its Analysts (e.g., Associates in training or soulless commodities waiting to be ground into dust?).

But if we take the average case and say that it’s a middle-market PE firm that focuses on leveraged buyouts and bolt-on acquisitions and that there’s a moderate amount of deal activity, a typical day might look like this:

8:30 AM: Arrive at the office after reading financial and market news, and check your email for anything urgent in overnight messages.

9 AM – 11 AM: Your Associate asks you to update an LBO model you’ve been working on for a professional services company because the management team has just sent over new, very optimistic projections.

Your team is skeptical, so you start adding cases to assess the impact if the projections are completely wrong.

You’re in the final stages of bidding on this company, but it could fall apart instantly.

11 AM – 12 PM: Bankers have just submitted teasers for a few different companies. Your Associate starts looking at the most promising 2-3 and asks you to review the rest.

12 PM – 2 PM: One of your portfolio companies is planning a $20 million add-on acquisition. That is relatively small, so the only deal team members are a VP, Associate, and you.

You join a call to discuss customer contract and financial data the potential target company has just uploaded to the data room. Meanwhile, you eat at your desk.

2 PM – 3 PM: Some of the data is horribly formatted and will need to be cleaned up in Excel before it is usable, so your Associate hands this grunt work off to you.

3 PM – 5 PM: One of your portfolio companies has just reported quarterly results, so you update your internal model and start drafting a report for the next firmwide meeting.

5 PM – 6 PM: You go back to reviewing some of the teasers from this morning, and you pull up industry research on a few sectors, concluding that most of the companies are poor fits.

6 PM – 7 PM: You explain your findings to the Associate and VP, but point out that one of the companies is more promising because it’s in a highly fragmented market with mostly small businesses – a perfect roll-up opportunity!

7 PM – 8:30 PM: You find out that your firm wants to proceed with a bid on the professional services company because the numbers still work even with much worse performance, and one of the Partners is fully behind the deal.

You and the Associate start planning out the investment committee memo you’ll have to write to win final approval for a binding offer.

But it’s not due for another week, so you head home right after outlining it.

The day-to-day tasks here are not necessarily that much different from those of an IB Analyst, but expectations are higher and there’s less hand-holding.

You still do a fair amount of grunt work (data formatting, industry research, etc.), but more judgment and critical thinking are required.

Which Firms Offer Analyst Jobs?

Many of the mega-funds and some upper-middle-market funds offer Analyst positions: Blackstone, KKR, Carlyle, Bain, Silver Lake, Warburg Pincus, Audax, Leonard Green, Vista Partners, and more.

In Europe, some of those firms as well as ones like Terra Firma, 3i, Ardian, and PAI, offer Analyst roles.

Confusingly, some PE firms offer “summer internships” for undergrads but do not extend full-time return offers or hire directly for full-time roles out of undergrad.

Also, some firms offer rotational programs where you move between departments, such as investor relations, private equity, credit, and operations.

The bottom line is that you are more likely to find PE Analyst roles at mid-sized-to-larger firms and less likely to fund them at smaller ones.

Private Equity Analyst Hours

The work hours span a wide range because they depend on the nature of the role: are you an “Associate in training,” or are you more like an “IB Analyst 2.0”?

To be conservative, I’ll say the average range is 60 – 80 hours per week, with numbers at the top end of that range (or even above it) when a deal is in its final stages.

Weekend work tends to be minimal, but it does come up when deals are in their final stages.

Some private equity firms are notorious for grinding their Analysts to the bone (I won’t mention names here), so you could end up working investment banking hours depending on the group and firm.

Private Equity Analyst Salary (and Bonus)

Most Analyst roles in private equity pay lower salaries and bonuses than Analyst roles in investment banking; total compensation might be between $100K and $150K USD in New York, with lower figures in smaller cities and outside the U.S.

By contrast, IB Analysts might earn total compensation between $150K and $200K USD.

Allegedly, some of the “mega-funds” pay closer to $200K USD for Analyst roles in NY.

But I couldn’t find much data in compensation reports to back up those claims, so I’m not sure I believe them.

You may earn that much at the biggest funds, but the average case is the $100K – $150K range.

Why Become an Analyst Rather Than Joining as an Associate?

And now to the punch line: is there a good reason to start as a Private Equity Analyst directly out of undergrad rather than working in investment banking and then joining as a Private Equity Associate?

We partially answered this question in the investment banking vs private equity article; to summarize, it’s a good idea only if:

  • You’re very certain you want to stay in PE for the long term;
  • You’re at a well-known, established fund;
  • You’ll be doing substantial work rather than cold calling; and
  • You’ll have some possibility of promotion to Associate.

Yes, the work is more interesting than creating pitch books, but that is not a good enough reason to pick the job since there are also some clear downsides: less of a network, less training, and less of a brand name.

Some people argue that it’s better to start in private equity because on-cycle recruiting for Associate roles at the large funds has become incredibly early and competitive, so it’s a safer bet to win an Analyst role and then a promotion.

To which I respond, “Buyer beware.”

The problem is that not all firms offer direct promotions – it depends heavily on your performance, the firm’s deal flow, and your current involvement in deals.

Also, you’re extremely unlikely to go directly from Analyst a $500 million AUM firm to Associate at a $20 billion firm.

Even if you want to move up-market, you’ll probably have to do it over a few successive moves.

Recruiting: How to Become a Private Equity Analyst

To have a good shot at winning an Analyst role out of undergrad or a Master’s program:

  • You should ideally be at one of the top target schools (Harvard or Wharton in the U.S.) or at least one of the top ~20 universities;
  • You should have extensive internship experience, such as a corporate finance and boutique IB internship in your first 2-3 years at school; and
  • You need to do a good amount of networking because firms do not openly advertise many of these positions. Alternatively, if you intern at an elite boutique or top bulge-bracket bank, they may contact you.

Some PE firms hire summer interns and then extend full-time return offers, while others try to “pick off” selected interns from the top banks.

The process is less structured than the one in investment banking interviews, and it could take weeks or months – or finish very quickly as you’re completing another internship.

The articles on private equity interviews and investment banking interview questions give you a good idea of the questions to expect.

The main differences at the Intern or Analyst level are:

  • Less emphasis on deal/client experience since you won’t have much.
  • Less emphasis on case studies and modeling tests – yes, they could still come up, but they probably won’t be as detailed as the ones in the PE Associate process.

Interviews tend to focus on why you want to do private equity right out of undergrad and how it fits into your long-term goals.

The PE Analyst Job: Up Your Alley?

As private equity firms have expanded their Analyst hiring, we’ve been receiving more and more questions about the role.

There’s no way to decide, universally, whether or not it’s for you, but the criteria above (long-term plans, established fund, real work, promotion chances) is a good starting point.

The biggest pitfall is assuming that a PE Analyst role at a boutique or lower-middle-market firm will lead you into a career at KKR or Blackstone eventually (don’t hold your breath).

That is possible, but it’s not probable, and there are some clear risks associated with starting in PE as well.

So, look before you leap, and if you leap into the “Private Equity Analyst” bucket, make sure there are no holes at the bottom.

About the Author

Brian DeChesare is the Founder of Mergers & Inquisitions and Breaking Into Wall Street. In his spare time, he enjoys lifting weights, running, traveling, obsessively watching TV shows, and defeating Sauron.

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Comments

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  1. Hello Brian, extremely well-written & insightful post. I am looking to make the switch as Sr. FP&A in corporate finance (I am 25 years old), to the PE world, specifically REPE. Using this piece you put together & my own research it’s safe to say that that Analyst entry point is not the option for me. Any suggestions? Other than the Graduate route (either MS in Real Estate or MBA General with Real Estate Credits), what are some professional transitions that I should work on until I complete graduate school (2-3 years) to make myself a suitable candidate for something like an Associate role?

    1. Thanks. If you want to do REPE specifically, you should try to find some type of real estate role, even if it’s not specifically working on deals or investing, because with real estate, pretty much any type of RE-related experience will help quite a bit. I don’t think it’s a great idea to go for a traditional IB or PE role because it will take a lot of time, they won’t know where to put you, and you don’t necessarily need it for REPE. I would take a look at some of the CRE coverage on this site and see if you can get ideas from that – a lending role or even brokerage might work.

  2. Sabrina Smith

    What are the exit opportunities for PE analyst who spend 2-3 years with a firm and then decide they no longer want to do PE?

    1. Corporate development, going back to IB, joining a hedge fund, going into growth equity or later-stage VC, going into tech/other large companies in some type of business development or corporate strategy role. Potentially even going back into IB if you actually want that.

  3. Do you have an updated list of PE Firms recruiting Analysts for start date Fall 2021? I have noticed more and more firms are creating analyst positions. Thank you!

    1. We do not. This article is very recent, written in 2019, so there are no updates. More firms than the ones here offer Analyst roles. The list is representative, not comprehensive. But you’re generally going to find these internships at larger firms – smaller firms will do off-cycle internships but don’t necessarily like to bring on Analysts straight out of undergrad.

  4. Hi Brian, I’ve noticed in my hometown where there are a few smaller PE firms that most of them are starting to have analysts. found this article interesting.

    My question is: is it possible for the analyst track to make sense for someone like me who has spent my first few years post undergrad working within accounting? I have relevant experience that would probably fall more under monitoring portfolio companies, but I have had an internship during undergrad in PE, and I spent a good amount of time doing my CPA CPE hours within things like corporate finance, modeling, etc. Is it possible to leverage all of this and win an analyst offer with a small PE firm? I dont see myself becoming a partner in a PE firm, but I think this analyst experience would be good for a position within a corporate VC role we have in my hometown or corporate development like you mentioned. Or are these jobs usually only reserved for recent undergrads?

    Thank you.

    1. It might make sense, but most PE Analyst roles are for recent graduates or current undergrads. But it varies by firm, and some, like Vista (look at some of the bios here – https://www.vistaequitypartners.com/our-firm/team/#department-private-equity), seem to hire a few Analysts with work experience in other industries. So, it’s worth asking these smaller firms, but they might come back with the “you have too much experience line.”

  5. Leon Yuan

    Thank you for this article as I was just thinking about PE. I eventually want to go into investment management long term, but I have an opportunity with a PE firm. Would the experience be beneficial for me? I am open to learning more about any field in financial services.

    1. If it’s an internship, sure. If it’s a full-time role, you could move into investment management from PE, but it’s probably not the most relevant role since PE = deal execution and investment management = following companies and securities and entire portfolios.

  6. How do you balance between the risk of not getting hired at 3rd year IBD analyst at a BB with the risk of working as a PE analyst but not getting promoted to associate level at a smaller size fund? Which is one is the preferred position if one really wants to work in PE?

    1. I think it would be fairly tough to move *from* PE *to* IB as a 3rd year analyst after 2 years of working in PE (if that’s what you’re asking) because the first question will be, “So, how do I know you won’t just go back to PE? You liked it enough to join the first time around.”

      You could probably do it just because turnover is always high in banking, but I don’t think it’s the easiest transition because they’ll be skeptical of your motives.

      If you really want to be in PE long term, your best option is still to work at a bulge bracket or elite boutique and move in from there. You also have more options in other industries if PE doesn’t work out.

      If you take a PE Analyst role and don’t get promoted and cannot win offers elsewhere, you could always make another run it at from an MBA program… or even do something like corporate development and aim for PE again in the future (probably an easier story to tell than PE –> IB –> PE).

  7. First of all, excellent article detailing this industry change. I have a question though.

    So you said that Analyst positions are often not “Partner-track roles,” but at the same time recommend those who want to stay in PE for the long-term to consider Analyst positions. If people want to become Partner then, what does the majority do? Do they end up having to move firms to advance? And if so how hard is that to switch firms like that?

    1. Thanks. It would be more accurate to say that there’s a higher probability of an Associate role being Partner-track than there is of an Analyst role being Partner-track. And many of those who leave realize they don’t actually want to be in PE. If you want to do it long term, presumably you’ve done previous internships that have confirmed this, so you know what you’re getting into and have a good idea of what’s required. This also means that your chances of winning a long-term role there are higher.

      The majority of people who become MDs or Partners start in IB or some other field and transition into PE. It’s too early to say how those who start at the Analyst level will do in the long term since you usually need 10-20 years of data for that, and these roles are relatively new.

      Firm switching is fairly common once you’re already in PE, and it’s feasible to switch to a smaller firm or one the same size as your current one, but it’s more difficult to go up market because there’s more competition and more of a structured process.

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