Search Results

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. Overview Equity research is a great career path that combines deep industry analysis, financial modeling, and writing research reports. Equity research is a field that allows you to deeply learn about a specific industry and forces you to become a subject expert on a group of companies. Equity research is a popular field because professionals tend to work fewer hours than their investment banking / private equity counterparts and enjoy more stable career trajectories. Equity research is a sell-side role that combines a unique blend of skills that includes writing, deep analysis, and client management. And in equity research, you spend your entire day looking at public stocks and the public markets, which is arguably better training for the hedge fund job than investment banking. As such, equity research is often a great precursor to hedge fund roles and investor relations roles. What’s very interesting about equity research is that it is often the best entry point for people coming from non-finance industries. To be an excellent equity research analyst, you need to have unparalleled knowledge about an industry, which often makes people coming from that industry more suited for the job. It turns out that it’s easier to teach a doctor about financial modeling than it is to teach a banker about medicine. As such, if you’re in a highly technical field like medicine, engineering, or aerospace, equity research is probably the easiest way for you to lateral into a finance role. If you're interested in breaking into equity research, check out our course, which will teach you all of the modeling, valuation, and recruiting strategy you need to get the job. What is Equity Research? Equity research is the sell-side function in which you develop investment recommendations, industry research, and company analysis for clients. You are responsible for covering a stock, in which you will report on quarterly earnings, financial filings, and all major news events. You are essentially like a news reporter on a particular stock – you study everything to do with the stock and give recommendations based on your research. You will also have direct access to the public company’s management, a luxury that many investors do not have. Responsibilities typically include: Building financial models to forecast out the performance of the stock. Developing a comprehensive report on a new company (an “Initiating Coverage” report). Writing update reports when a company reports earnings or has a financial event. Liaising between corporate executives at public companies and investors. Assisting investment banks with industry-specific knowledge during initial public offerings (“IPO”). Educate investor base on new tradable securities that the company is going to issue. Equity research teams typically either operate within an investment bank or as their own independent agency. Each of the bulge bracket firms (GS, JPM, MS, etc.) has an equity research team and many of the elite boutiques also have equity research functions. Not every equity research team will cover every single industry and company. The larger bulge brackets typically do not directly cover small-cap companies, which are often the purview of small equity research shops. This structure mirrors that of investment banking, where industry coverage is dependent on personnel and client demands. There are also “pure-play” equity research firms (Bernstein Research, Frost & Sullivan) that independently provide high-quality research. In terms of work/life balance, the equity research job has a high amount of seasonality. When public companies report earnings, the amount of work required by the equity research team is much higher. Companies report earnings four times a year during Earnings Season, whereby equity research analysts have to publish earnings reports, do investor calls, and update their models. You might work 40-60 hours for most of the year, but during the period that your covered companies are reporting earnings, you could work up to 60-80 hours per week. Why Equity Research? Equity research can be a great career path for the right kind of personality. Some of the biggest draws include: Pros of Equity Research Become an industry expert in a specialization In equity research, you get to go extremely deep into an industry vertical and learn about a couple of companies extremely well. You arguably get to learn more deeply about companies in equity research more than any other part of finance due to your access to company management and level of focus. Understand the investment narrative of both sides of a trade One of the most interesting parts of the equity research job is that you get to interface deeply with the company and with investors. As a result, you’ll get to learn about what management believes in, what the investor sentiment is, as well as the biggest concerns that investors have. Equity research analysts can assign buy or sell recommendations, meaning that you will be exposed to different parts of the investment narrative. Develop a broad skill set that helps retain career optionality Equity research is a career field where you get to do modeling, company analysis, as well as client management. It’s a rare job where you get to work on interpersonal skills and also learn all of the tools associated with financial analysis. As such, many people start in equity research and can move to hedge funds, private equity, corporate roles, business development, or business school. Learn about public markets The most distinct advantage that starting in equity research has over investment banking or consulting is that you have much more direct involvement with the stock market. As such, equity research is arguably the best training you can get t to work at a hedge fund. Cons of Equity Research Highly variable hours Hours on average are better than investment banking or private equity, but hours can still be 60-80 hours during earnings season and when doing an Initiating Coverage report. The average work week is likely still in the 40-60 hour range, but the variability can be unpleasant for some. News-driven work schedule Like a news reporter, your workflow is highly dictated by what the companies and markets are doing. If your company is going through a lot of corporate events or a period of turbulence, you may need to spend more time writing updates and liaising with investors. Your life can be unpredictable in equity research as you have to be highly reactive to news. Teams are very small, which may lead to you still doing grunt work as you progress Equity research teams tend to be fairly small. Even at a large equity research firm, an industry team may only be 2-4 people. As such, even as you progress in the ranks, you will still likely have to do more of the execution grunt work such as formatting, building models, and working with editors. Compensation is more stable but tends to be lower than investment banking Equity research tends to have very low variability at the junior level, but salaries in general are lower than some other fields. It’s still entirely possible to make ~$300k with 5 years of experience, but it is relatively lower than fields like private equity and investment banking.

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. Finance as a Career Path The financial services industry has been around in some form or another for centuries. For as long as there has been business and ingenuity, there have also been greedy, clever merchants looking to siphon off some of that sweet, sweet value. In this post, we'll look at a few key factors you should evaluate if you're considering a career in finance. The short of it is that finance isn't going anywhere as a career, but it's a very intense field to work in. You can also check out this video we made to help you figure out whether finance is right for you. New Finance Categories are Always Developing There will always be good finance jobs available for smart, hardworking people. The specific finance jobs and opportunities may shift over time as new technologies and strategies are developed, but it's hard to imagine finance as a category going anywhere. New sub-industries within finance are continually invented as people constantly search for yield and superior returns. For example: Private equity wasn't always a big part of the financial ecosystem. The first private equity firms date back to the 40s and 50s, but the LBO strategy didn't come into vogue until the late 80's when KKR bought RJR-Nabisco. Today, private equity is one of the most important sectors of asset management. Algorithmic trading became increasingly popular in the early 2000's as computer and Internet technology has improved, which is articulated in Michael Lewis' Flash Boys. Secondaries private equity (buying and selling stakes in private equity funds) has exploded in popularity over the past few years, creating a whole new set of jobs. Many of the fastest growing investment firms today are secondaries funds. Cryptocurrency investing is essentially brand new, and a staggering amount of funds have been deployed from venture capital. Chart via HackerNoon As long as we live in a capitalist society, there will always be a role for capital allocators (investors) and people who make the capital markets more efficient (bankers, trading). I'm would actually bet that finance professionals are also ingenious enough to make a profit in a completely communist society too. The point is that modern finance and investing is likely to exist in some form or another for the duration of our lifetimes. The specific assets and strategies may change, but the fundamental tools of assessing businesses, making risk-adjusted bets, and understanding macroeconomics are going to persist. Investment banking also happens to be incredibly popular as an entry point, because it teaches you these skills and sets you up for all of these roles (private equity, trading, secondaries, crypto, etc.) If you're interested in preparing for a career in investment banking, you can check out our comprehensive Investment Banking course, which covers the recruiting and technical aspects of the job. The Top Students Still Favor Finance Relative to other categories in business, finance is still the most popular path at the top MBA programs. Harvard Business School sends 1/3 of its candidates into finance, as does Stanford GSB. Source: HBS Employment Data from the class of 2021 Sure, these bright MBAs are likely saddled with debt and groupthink, but it's hard to ignore the raw data. For comparison, in 2021, Stanford sent 33% of its MBAs into finance, vs. 29% into tech. Even though tech has exploded in popularity and earning potential, much of the top talent is still drawn to finance. This chart might not indicate that finance is a good career path, but it at least tells us that finance is a popular and sought-after career path. And based on this Stanford MBA data, we can also see that finance also has the highest median salary. If your goal is to make money and achieve things others cannot, finance is a great choice. Finance Culture and Hours are Pretty Trash The main consideration people should have when considering a career in finance is that a lot of the best jobs in finance are really intense and have difficult hours. Most investing jobs either require tons of resourcefulness or tons of diligence to be good at. And most sell-side jobs are just Excel-oriented sales jobs, so you have to do a ton of client service on tight deadlines. What's perhaps hardest to stomach is that the culture in finance can be brutal at certain firms. It's an industry with a dark history of suicide, fraud, and obsession with work. You need to be pretty mentally strong to go far in finance. The famed GS13 survey highlights how horrible some work environments can be: I do think that this is changing and there are certainly some firms with great culture that treat each other as equal partners. It's up to you to network and speak with people in the industry to see if you can resonate with the work style. Finance is the Risk-Adjusted Easiest Way to Become Rich Without a doubt, I think finance is the "risk-adjusted" easiest way to become rich. Who needs original ideas, bold risk-taking, or unique technical skill when you can be a capital allocator? Specifically on the investing side, the concept of earning management fees generally guarantees that employees will get a certain amount of money. And this amount of money tends to be much higher than what you can make in other industries. If you run a $1B fund and get 1% management fees, your team will get $10mm annually just for "managing the money". Even if you do a mediocre job, you'll still get those management fees. This fee structure is eroding a bit, but investment managers at large funds still have a very, very high floor of what they can earn. An example of how the popular 2/20 management fee structure works You might be able to win big in tech, entrepreneurship, or sales if you're talented and lucky. But if you want to run a stochastic simulation of your own life and solve for the highest expected value, finance is probably the safest bet. It's hard to compete with an asset class like private equity that is designed to safely compound annually. Artificial Intelligence Will be a Tool, not a Job Killer As long as humans stay irrational and shortsighted, there will be jobs for live humans to work in finance. I don't think anyone can say with absolute certainty, but I personally think that AI won't be able to completely eliminate all traditional finance jobs. Humans like trusting other humans and I think AI will actually serve as an aid for most people to do their job. The book, Superforecasting (which articulates how to make better predictions) posits that the best predictions are made by combining human intuition and data tools. I agree with this notion in that people and finance professionals will learn to use AI to improve their investing judgement, but not replace it. AI will likely eliminate a lot of lower-level finance jobs (e.g., analysts can theoretically work more efficiently) and many back office jobs. The onus is on investors to learn new tools and upskill themselves to effectively wield AI. Some conventional jobs may be "killed" by AI, but I think it will just shift where and how people look for yield. Conclusion I personally think that finance is simply going to continue to be the career that it's always been. Even if the specific asset types or strategies shift slightly, it's very likely going to exist in this form for the next several decades. Finance is going to be a lucrative, but demanding field for the foreseeable future.

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. One of the most common qualitative questions you should prepare for when interviewing for a role in equity research is “Why Equity Research?”. The core strategy of answering this question is similar across different jobs in finance. As we highlighted in our “Why Investment Banking?” blog post, it’s extremely common that an interviewer will ask you “Why this firm?” or “Why Equity Research?” after you walk through your resume. Your answers to any of these questions are likely to highlight similar themes with the goal of presenting your past experience as part of a logical series of steps leading you to this interview. You’ll be ready for the qualitative side of the interview if you have a good answer to these three questions: Walk me through your resume (your full story and key work experiences) Why equity research (why your past experiences and aptitudes logically lead to a career in equity research, and why you are pursuing this vs. other jobs in the capital markets) Why this firm (why do you want to do equity research at this firm in particular?) To better prepare for an upcoming interview or learn how to best position yourself to break into the industry, you should check out our Equity Research Course and our Equity Research Overview blog post. How to Answer This Question It’s arguably easier to identify realistic-sounding reasons why you see yourself working in equity research compared to other jobs in finance such as investment banking. By nature, part of the job is more widely seen by the general public and is often televised. For example, you may have seen talking heads on business news channels like CNBC or BNN (in Canada) interview equity research analysts about their views on a stock they cover. Actually investing in stocks is also very accessible to the general public. The benefits of starting a career in equity research include more direct exposure to the stock market, speaking with different types of investors, and becoming a subject matter expert, all of which can arguably set you up to be a good investor in public equities. Just as we mentioned in our “Why Investment Banking?” post, a good answer to the “Why Equity Research” question is about picking a few elements to highlight that fit in your story which would be personal, authentic-sounding, and draw upon unique elements in your life. Your answer can be more impactful if it touches on a few important points without dragging on. As a rule of thumb, a good answer to this question will: Be 30-60 seconds in length Highlight 2 or 3 discrete points Relate to unique personal experiences or characteristics Generally, this question is better when answered more concisely. I would aim for 30-45 seconds in which you would spend 15-20 seconds on each point you bring up. Crafting your answer around actual details in your life will make your desire to get the job much more believable. For example, let’s say you were an analyst in your school’s investment club covering stocks within the Technology sector. “I was the lead Technology analyst in my school’s investment club which has $2 million of assets under management. One of the stocks I looked at closely was Nvidia, which led me to learn about some really diverse industries and trends such as gaming, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency, to come up with a view on how the business might perform in the future. I really love the detective work aspect of understanding a company. I’m excited to pursue a career that rewards intellectual curiosity and promotes creativity in both asking and answering questions.” Maybe you weren’t part of any investment group in your school but traded stocks using your own money. “I’ve been managing my own portfolio which generated a +4% return this past year relative to the S&P 500’s -16% return. I love learning about many industries and following macro trends to build a diversified portfolio. Looking into individual stocks got me really interested in navigating the opposing views of different investors in the market. I want to further my skillset in analyzing specific companies in order to be part of the conversations around individual stocks." What if you didn’t have access to money to trade actual stocks? "This past year, I’ve managed a mock portfolio which beat the S&P 500 by 5%. I really enjoyed learning about different companies and making investment decisions on my own research. Specifically, I enjoyed the open-ended and creative nature of formulating an investment thesis around a stock, and I found it rewarding to see stocks move in line with my predictions. I’m excited to pursue a career which rewards intellectual curiosity, and where your work can be compared against actual results frequently." Common Answers We’ve highlighted some of the most common answers to this question for a career in equity research below. You can pick some of the points below that you think you can tie to a specific experience or trait of yours. Aim to pick two or three, depending on how much support you have for each one. Common Answers for "Why Equity Research" Rewards intellectual curiosity Great learning experience High degree of responsibility early in your career Relevant internship / club experience / personal experience Enjoy investing your own money Allows you to speak with different types of investors Gives you exposure to many different investing styles Lots of modeling experience Opportunity to become an expert in an industry Work with smart and motivated people Want to work as part of small and focused teams Opportunities for collaboration across geographies and different teams Fast-paced environment Dynamic market The list of answers above is by no means exhaustive, but it covers most of the answers people will say. Don’t be afraid to use points that aren’t extremely original. What sets answers to the “Why Equity Research” question apart is the creativity in connecting these answers to actual events or experiences in your life. Simply saying that you “want to learn a lot” is a bad answer. A good answer would be if you say you were part of your school's investment club, and your favorite part of the role was the opportunity to learn and present your findings on many different companies to an interested audience. Common Mistakes Make sure to avoid saying points that contradict your own experience or story, or the actual nature of the job itself. For example, don’t say that you want an opportunity to invest actual money in equity research, as the job entails advising clients whether to buy or sell certain stocks. If your goal is to move to the buy side (invest actual money), frame your answer around your interest in analyzing stocks and companies, instead of generating a return on your capital. Understand the differences between jobs across a bank’s capital markets division and how they interact with one another. This will help you ensure that your answer doesn’t more closely align with a different job compared to equity research. We cover the different functions of a bank’s capital markets division and equity research’s role within the broader bank in our course here. More Examples Here are a few more examples that you can use as inspiration or repurpose: “I’ve been interested in equity research ever since joining my school’s investment club. An associate at your firm actually helped judge the students’ stock picks and was generous with her time to talk with everyone about the details of the job after the presentations. I remember being really excited about how she explained the open-ended nature of coming up with interesting trade ideas, and how creative you can be when finding data supporting or contradicting a thesis.” “I’m majoring in finance and statistics, and have had the opportunity to build company models. I was really impressed with seeing how detailed some equity research models can be, and how data plays a huge role in building a good model. I’m really interested in data-driven decision making, and how equity research merges the fundamental analysis of companies’ operational performance with market psychology to pick stocks.” “After speaking with a few equity research analysts, the thing I’m most excited about in equity research is the variety and depth of the work. I find it really fascinating how research analysts develop and publish original ideas on stocks, speak with and build relationships with investors, meet and learn from senior company executives, and even work on IPOs. I’ve enjoyed learning about a lot of different topics from taking a wide range of classes at college ranging from history to finance, and believe I would really love working in such a dynamic role.” “I’ve enjoyed working on my master’s thesis since it allowed me to dig deep into one topic over a long time. I’ve noticed that Goldman Sachs has put out a lot of interesting and extensive thematic research reports focusing on specific trends and industries. I think it would be a really exciting opportunity to contribute to research identifying important trends which could impact companies in the future.” “I’ve been interested in the stock market for several years, and think that being involved in company and industry research would be fascinating. Having taken a few psychology and behavioral finance classes, I would love to blend the technical aspects of modeling and company analysis with the psychological analysis of market participant behavior.”

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. Breaking Into Equity Research Equity research recruiting is generally less structured when compared to other front office roles. Entry-level on-cycle recruiting at bulge bracket firms (Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, etc.) is skewed towards summer interns who would sign return offers prior to their last day in the summer. However, off-cycle recruitment is much more common in equity research than investment banking. This provides ample opportunity to break into the industry throughout the year outside of set recruitment deadlines that other jobs may have. This is because an equity research team's needs change throughout the year depending on things like changes in coverage (picking up new stocks to cover) or as junior-level employees exit to different roles. As a result, industry specialization is valued extremely highly in equity research. It’s much easier to break into the industry if you can show that you have a relevant and unique skill or perspective on a covered industry either from your education or past jobs. From the perspective of a hiring manager, it’s much easier to teach someone with a science background how to build financial models than to teach a finance major the core concepts from a technical science degree on the job. If you land an equity research interview, you need to portray your ability to easily learn finance concepts on the job if you don’t know them already, so you're not seen as a training risk after being hired. You can learn the foundations of equity research, modeling, and how to pitch a stock in our course here. Focus on Specific Teams to Increase Your Chances Some teams consistently hire industry professionals with no prior finance education or work experience, with the expectation that they’ll be proactive and learn modeling fundamentals on their own. Some common examples are shown in the table below: To illustrate this point, we looked at a random sample of 100 equity research professionals on LinkedIn with a science education background. Looking through the lens of university majors, we noticed that there was a significant representation of students with knowledge in something tangential to biology (medicine, biochemistry, pharmacology, immunology, etc.), followed by engineering and math. In our sample, 54% of equity research professionals with a science background pursued a PhD, while 46% did not. Of the people who had PhDs, the overwhelming majority studied biology, which gave them an advantage in securing jobs covering stocks within the Biotech sector. Some students went on to cover stocks within the Energy sector, likely due to their Chemistry education which would be helpful in understanding and discussing the technical aspects of some companies’ products. Others with a background in math or engineering were able to use their knowledge to cover stocks within the Technology and Industrials sectors, though those coverage groups have a high representation of people who did not study science in university due to the relatively lower knowledge threshold required to speak well on trends with clients, compared to something more specialized like Biotech. See the table below for the typical outcomes of candidates with a science education background. We also looked at a sample of 100 equity research professionals with a finance education background. We noticed a much more even distribution of resultant industry coverage, with only 22% covering Biotech stocks vs. the 82% placement rate within that sector of those with a science background. Some people pursued CFAs to pad their resumes if they came from non-target schools, or if they tried to lateral from smaller firms to bulge brackets. See the table below for the typical outcomes of candidates with a finance education background. As there are more opportunities in industry groups outside of Biotech, it would be logical to pursue an education in finance to increase your chances of breaking into the industry. However, having a background in a more technical STEM field could arguably set you apart from other candidates as it would be assumed that you’ve spent time doing more intensive work involving data and research. You can learn all the essential skills to succeed in an equity research job from our course here. A large part of the job is speaking with and educating investors, and building detailed models that would reasonably predict a company’s future earnings. If you have a background in biology, perhaps your expertise in a specific industry or company would make investors seek you out, or maybe your knowledge about the typical R&D process of a drug can help you dial in more accurate estimates about a pharmaceutical company’s development costs. Overall, think about how your unique skill set can translate to giving an equity research team an edge in either speaking intelligently with clients, or including unique and relevant insights into their modeling. Focus Your Networking Efforts There’s clearly a bias in industry placements reflecting the prior background of employees. Use this to your advantage when you’re focusing your networking and recruitment efforts. If you didn’t go through business school and missed out on on-cycle recruitment, you should focus on dialing up your networking intensity. Directly speaking with a senior equity research analyst about an opening on their team (for which you are qualified and have a unique relevant skillset) could help you skip the resume drop void. You should aim to speak with 2 people per week in the industry, especially if you have no prior connections or didn’t attend any networking events at your school.

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. What is Growth Equity? Growth equity is a category of investing that exists between venture capital and traditional private equity. Growth equity investors typically look at fast-growing businesses that have a proven core business model, but that may still be relatively early on in their lifecycle. Although there are no strict rules, many growth equity investors target investment rounds in the Series B to Series D range. Traditional venture capital operates between the Seed to Series B stages, whereas growth equity tends to invest in later rounds. Growth equity firms therefore tend to make larger investments at later stages of the business than venture capital firms. The advent of fast-growing technology businesses and the emergence of vertical SaaS businesses have helped validate the strategy of growth equity investors. Some typical characteristics of growth equity investing include: Investing in fast-growing businesses (e.g., double-digit revenue growth, often underwriting businesses with >20% revenue CAGR) Investment money is used to fuel the next leg of growth Taking minority investments instead of seeking controlling stakes (i.e., ownership positions <50%) Investing in Series B to Series D companies Investing in companies with proven business models A shorter time horizon than venture capital businesses (potentially 3-7 years instead of VC's 5-10 years) Not relying on large amounts of debt to drive returns (which is important in LBO private equity) The Rule of 40 is a common rule that many SaaS investors adhere to, which stipulates that SaaS investments should adhere to the formula of (Revenue Growth + Profit Margin > 40). SaaS is tremendously popular in growth equity investing and the espousal of this rule highlights how growth equity does indeed focus on growth. Source: SaaSCFO It's important to remember that there are many investors that blend the characteristics of different investment strategies. Many private equity firms participate in what would be considered late-stage growth investments (e.g., a Series E minority investment in a fast-growing SaaS business). Investors are ultimately looking for yield and that hunt for yield can take many different forms. Growth Equity Firms Below is a list of the world's largest growth equity firms ranked by their most recent fund size. Vintage year refers to the year in which the firms was raised. Note that this fund size figure only pertains to the most recent fund size and does not cover all assets under management. Below are links to the company's websites. A more complete list of growth equity firms can be found here. Insight Partners Tiger Global TA Associates Summit Partners General Atlantic Great Hill Partners Blackstone Growth PSG Battery Ventures TPG Growth a16z Growth JMI Equity Accel-KKR Silversmith Capital Partners Insight Partners is reported to have raised a $20B flagship fund, which gives it the largest growth equity fund by a landslide. A $20B flagship fund is larger than that of many of the largest private equity funds. TA Associates has the second largest growth equity fund, with an impressive $12.5B. We observe that there is a fairly steep drop-off in fund size among the largest growth equity players. There are only four firms with a >$5B growth equity fund: Insight, Tiger Global, TA, Summit, and General Atlantic. We can also notice that many of these growth equity funds are associated with a large-cap private equity firm or mega fund asset manager (e.g., TPG, Blackstone, KKR, Providence). Many asset managers have begun to offer a growth equity product to their investors. A Typical Growth Equity Investment To better understand the investment strategy of a growth equity firm, you should look at their investments page and read through their recent press releases. In particular, it is useful to keep an eye out for: The kinds of industries they typically invest in, The logic behind their investment strategies, and The typical investment size they make. Here, we can see that General Atlantic participated in a Series C round of a payment infrastructure business. The investment was made to help expand into the European digital payments market. It is also worth quickly searching online to see other investors that participated in the round. Here, Blenheim Capital, Frog Capital, Highland Europe, and Paypal Ventures also participated in the transaction. Growth Equity Recruiting Tips Growth equity recruiting borrows some characteristics of private equity recruiting, which may be driven by the asset managers who have both growth equity and private equity practices (e.g., TPG, Blackstone). Growth equity funds tend not to have as prescriptive of a recruiting process as private equity, but many funds do mirror the timing of on-cycle private equity recruiting. Relative to private equity recruiting, growth equity tends to fill a greater proportion of its positions via the "off-cycle". If you are trying to prepare for growth equity, you may be disappointed to realize that there are very few pure-play interview resources. We don't have a dedicated growth equity course, but we would like to relay advice we commonly hear from our growth equity peers: Excel Modeling: We still recommend knowing how to build an LBO, because a growth equity model is very, very similar to a typical LBO. Growth equity investing is less about using leverage and is more about protecting your investment in the case of downside (like venture capital). Structuring: The main additional thing you need to learn for growth equity models is structuring. Growth equity investors typically employ less debt and tend to have a bit more focus on preferred securities and options. We have a free primer on preferred security modeling here. Technology Trends: After modeling, the next most important thing is to follow technology trends. We recommend following a few venture capital blogs so you understand where tech valuations are and what kinds of businesses are trending. We like reading a16z and Tomasz Tunguz at Redpoint. Investment Pitch: Just like for any other investing interview, there is a high chance you will be asked to pitch a potential investment for their fund. This is where looking at the fund's recent investments comes in handy. You want to pick a company that matches the stage they invest in and the kinds of businesses they like. Although you won't have the same level of detail as a public stock pitch, you can talk more about the business' trends and state of the industry.

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. Overview After the traditional path of IB, PE or consulting, many people decide to do something more entrepreneurial. Of the people who pursue entrepreneurship, many will try to apply their existing finance and deal knowledge by buying businesses. I’ve talked about search funds and they are indeed a very popular route for people to raise money and buy a small cash flow generative business. To review, search funds typically focus on buying a single business and improving its financial profile. But there is another related strategy that has grown substantially in visibility and popularity over the past few years: roll-ups. The goal of a roll-up is to buy and combine several small businesses in order to unlock synergies, drive multiple expansion, and derive benefits from scale. What is a Roll-Up? A roll-up is when an investor buys up a bunch of similar companies and operates them under the same corporate umbrella, essentially merging several small businesses. The idea is that you can build scale, derive cost improvements, and replicate best practices across each business. For example, it might be unprofitable to purchase and operate a single fruit stand. But if you own a dozen fruit stands in Manhattan, then you’re able to secure better prices from suppliers, diversify your risk across locations, and understand consumer trends better. Like any private equity deal or search fund acquisition, the typical process for smaller-scale roll-ups involves: Outlining an investment scope (e.g., a specific geography or type of business) Raising money from investors Finding an operator to manage the businesses Buying the businesses (could be one site at a time) Integrating the businesses together The key difference here is the volume of deals that you need to do in order to perform the roll-up strategy. M&A is the main engine of the roll-up process and your ability to buy businesses at a cheap multiple will drive your overall return. The main reason this works is that private equity and growth equity firms often aren’t able to invest at such a small scale. Most private equity firms won’t have an investment mandate that allows them to invest in a single dental office. But if you roll up twenty dental offices and put them under the same branding, then you’re able to sell it at a much higher multiple and higher price. On the flip side, most roll-up investors don’t expect the same kind of multiple that private equity firms offer and are thus able to buy at a cheaper multiple and employ some arbitrage. Common Roll-Up Strategies Below are a few common roll-up strategies that have active buyers and sellers in the marketplace. E-Commerce Roll-Up The e-commerce roll-up (or aggregator) has quickly gained traction with the advent of Amazon and Shopify businesses. Additionally, online marketplaces like Flippa and Exchange Marketplace have made buying and selling online businesses much easier. The typical e-commerce roll-up searches for third-party seller on Amazon or Shopify that sells consumer products. Most operators of these e-commerce businesses don’t have the capital to scale their business to the next level, which is where the roll-up steps in. Roll-up companies use their domain expertise, supply chain operations, and marketing knowledge to grow these e-commerce brands. There are many major players in the space, but e-commerce brands can still be purchased at low single-digit EBITDA multiples. Example Players: Thrasio, Branded Group, Elevate Brands, Unybrands. Healthcare Services Roll-Up Rolling up healthcare service providers is a proven, profitable strategy commonly employed by private equity firms. Most healthcare services are relatively stable businesses, have inelastic demand, and hold very niche skills, thus creating information asymmetry between customers and practitioners. Virtually every kind of specialty healthcare provider has been rolled up by private equity over the past decade, including family doctors, vets, physiotherapists, dentists, and opticians. Many healthcare practices are operated by just a few physicians, which makes them the perfect target to roll up. Example Players: dentalcorp, Altus Health, Varsity Healthcare Partners Software Roll-Up Another notable industry for roll-ups is software. Many small software businesses serve very specific niches that are extremely logical acquisition targets. The growth of big tech platforms like Apple, Google, Amazon and Shopify have allowed for small businesses to be developed specifically for their platforms. Software developers often develop a tool or useful application that addresses a specific need and build a business out of it. In turn, investors can purchase these small businesses at low multiples and integrate them into a diversified portfolio of software companies. Marketplaces like Microacquire and AcquireBase have made this strategy more accessible to buyers. Example Players: Constellation Software; most technology private equity firms like Vista Equity and Thoma Bravo apply this to some degree Roll-Ups as a Career The roll-up concept has been around for a long time. Companies like Constellation Software, all the CPG brands, and Waste Management have been doing it for decades at the large-cap level. However, I think pursuing the roll-up strategy has recently become more viable at a smaller level and thus more accessible for individuals to pursue. Raising capital is easier now than ever. Plus, the popularity of roll-ups in market private equity means that there will be many buyers once you decide to exit your roll-up business, and new online marketplaces will help to facilitate deals by automatically pairing buyers and sellers. I think the roll-up is just as viable a career path as search funds and in some cases, can be pursued simultaneously. Below are some pros and cons I would consider when evaluating roll-ups as a career: Pros: Get to utilize your prior finance / dealmaking experience in a tangible way. If you’ve worked in IB and PE and you’re thinking of ways to apply your new-found skills, well… most career paths involve going back into PE. I think people tend to like search funds, roll-ups, and other related strategies because they allow you to improve your dealmaking skills in a much more entrepreneurial environment. Value arbitrage generally exists between middle market PE and small-cap deals. Middle market private equity firms are often unwilling to invest in individual units. You can apply more financial leverage to a portfolio of companies than you can to a single business. Your portfolio is inherently going to be diversified if you own a collection of businesses. You don’t have to apply any creativity to come up with a business idea. Buying an existing business is the easiest way to become an entrepreneur without having to do any of the legwork for launching. Cons: Finding an effective operator who can scale a group of businesses is fundamental for roll-ups and can be extremely difficult. You need to find an operator who knows how to implement profitable changes and will likely have to give this person a large chunk of equity. Doing one deal is already a lot of work, but for roll-ups to work you typically need to do a large volume of deals. This means that you’re constantly looking at new opportunities, filling your pipeline with prospects, and reaching out to new potential sellers. Over time, this can become very tiresome. Geographic opportunity may not line up with where you wish to live. Raising capital is stressful and time-consuming. I think the roll-up strategy is an intriguing way to be an investor and an operator. It’s a great way to combine your financial skillset with an operating skillset while also being able to learn about a specific industry.

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. The school you go to is the #1 factor that influences your chance of getting into investment banking. A top target school like the University of Pennsylvania sends 5 to 10x as many people to Goldman Sachs as a semi-target school. We scraped 15 years of LinkedIn data to examine which schools place the best into the top U.S. investment banks. We organized this data and ranked schools based on their # of Total Hires and the Undergrad Placement %, which examines the proportion of students that break into investment banking. The target school list and full methodology can be found here. Below are links to specific-school analysis, which shows the individual firm placement data and other investment banking recruiting statistics. Target Schools 1. University of Pennsylvania 2. Georgetown University 3. Harvard University 4. Columbia University 5. New York University 6. Cornell University 7. University of Notre Dame 8. University of Michigan 9. Yale University 10. The University of Texas at Austin 11. Princeton University 12. University of Chicago 13. University of California, Berkeley 14. Duke University 15. University of Virginia Semi-Target Schools 16. University of Southern California 17. Dartmouth College 18. Brigham Young University 19. Stanford University 20. Southern Methodist University 21. Northwestern University 22. Indiana University 23. Boston College 24. Emory University 25. Brown University 26. University of California, Los Angeles 27. Western University 28. Vanderbilt University 29. Rice University 30. UNC Chapel Hill Lower Semi-Target Schools 31. Middlebury College 32. Claremont McKenna College 33. Penn State University 34. Baruch College 35. Williams College 36. Fordham University 37. Washington University in St. Louis 38. Wake Forest University 39. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 40. Amherst College 41. University of Georgia 42. Texas A&M University 43. National University of Singapore 44. University of Florida 45. Boston University 46. Carnegie Mellon University 47. University of Wisconsin-Madison 48. Colgate University 49. The University of Hong Kong 50. Singapore Management University 51. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 52. The Johns Hopkins University 53. Queen's University 54. University of Miami 55. McGill University 56. Texas Christian University 57. Villanova University 58. HKUST 59. Arizona State University 60. Georgia Institute of Technology

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. University of Toronto Investment Banking Placement The University of Toronto is one of Canada's most distinguished universities, with a strong reputation in many different fields. UofT is one of the highest-ranked universities in the world, with top-tier programs in applied science/engineering, management, and public health. UofT is ranked #4 on our Canadian investment banking target school list, earning itself a designation as a Canadian semi-target school. UofT has great placement into the Canadian Big 6 firms and is highly regarded in Canadian finance markets. However, UofT has modest placement into the U.S. and does not place as well at global investment banks. UofT is home to the Rotman School of Management, a highly-ranked Canadian business school offering degree opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students alike. Rotman's MBA program consistently ranks as the top MBA program in Canada. UofT sends a disproportionate number of investment banking to BMO (Bank of Montreal), which represents 1/4 of all of UofT's investment banking placements. UofT places particularly well into Canadian banks and benefits from its proximity to Bay Street. However, we note that UofT has weaker representation at the most elite investment banks, sending only 5% of its placements to firms like Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley. UofT has weaker placement to most bulge brackets and elite boutiques when compared to other top Canadian schools. Overall, UofT is a well-rounded school for investment banking and finance placement. We categorize UofT as a Canadian semi-target school, in which its top students consistently break into investment banking. We have created a U.S. and Canadian investment banking target school list by analyzing >60k LinkedIn profiles. We examined profiles of professionals who worked in investment banking between 2008 and 2023. If you are trying to get a top finance job, check out our highly reviewed private equity and investment banking courses, which help thousands of people get into finance every year. We break down the common paths through finance and provide comprehensive tutorials on qualitative and quantitative interview questions. Investment Banking Placement Canadian Rank: #4 Category: Canadian Semi-Target School School Factsheet Established: 1827 Location: Toronto, Ontario Business School Name: Rotman # of Undergrads: 76,061 # of Business School Undergrads: 3,128 Median Starting Salary (2021): CAD$55k Chancellor: Rose M. Patten U.S. News Global Rank (2022-2023): #18 QS World University Rankings: #21 Financial Times MBA Rank: #67 School Resources School Website Business School Website LinkedIn

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. University of Waterloo Investment Banking Placement The University of Waterloo is located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and is widely regarded as the top engineering and tech school in Canada. Waterloo is recognized for its world-class engineering programs, but its business and finance programs have seen great strides over the past few decades. Waterloo is ranked #5 on our Canadian investment banking target school list, earning itself a designation as a Canadian semi-target school. Like main other semi-targets, Waterloo sends a consistent number of graduates to the Canadian investment banks each year. Of note, Waterloo has recently seen an uptick in U.S. placements and bulge bracket roles. Waterloo's success can in part be attributed to its excellent co-op program, which enables students to get off-cycle internships (e.g., working during the winter months). Waterloo is home to the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, which offers educational opportunities for graduate students. Another unique offering at Waterloo is its cross-registration with Wilfrid Laurier University, allowing students to complete a dual degree in computer science as well as business administration. Similar to other Canadian semi-targets, Waterloo sends over 2/3 investment banking graduates into Big 6 banks. In recent years, Waterloo has also earned a couple of strong placements into top firms like Goldman Sachs and Evercore. We have created a U.S. and Canadian investment banking target school list by analyzing >60k LinkedIn profiles. We examined profiles of professionals who worked in investment banking between 2008 and 2023. If you are trying to get a top finance job, check out our highly reviewed private equity and investment banking courses, which help thousands of people get into finance every year. We break down the common paths through finance and provide comprehensive tutorials on qualitative and quantitative interview questions. Investment Banking Placement Canadian Rank: #5 Category: Canadian Semi-Target School School Factsheet Established: 1957 Location: Waterloo, Ontario Business School Name: Conrad # of Undergrads: 34,204 Chancellor: Jagdeep Singh Bachher U.S. News Global Rank (2022-2023): #191 QS World University Rankings: #112 School Resources School Website Business School Website LinkedIn

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. Work and Life Balance It’s a bit counterintuitive to enter finance and then optimize for work / life balance, but there are some very comfortable finance jobs out there. It is entirely possible to earn >$300k and work <50 hours by your early 30s if you pick your spots right. Before I left my role in private equity, I gave serious consideration to a couple of roles that promised a better life without sacrificing too much earning potential. Had I stayed in high finance, I would’ve definitely tried to recruit for one of the following jobs. I will say that these roles are generally not the highest-earning roles in finance, but the trade-off can be worthwhile for lots of people. And as you read about the roles below, it can be helpful to keep in mind the two following characteristics: business model and owner expectations. These two characteristics will often dictate why and how a job can be comfortable to work at. Think About the Business Model - How Does the Firm / Fund Earn Money? Regardless of industry, the specific business model of a company is going to be the primary determinant of what your life is like. For example, all deal-reliant professional service roles (like investment banking, law, and parts of consulting) are going to have unpredictable and lumpy hours with short sprints. Even if you become a senior deal team member in investment banking, you’re still going to have to take calls over the weekend at some point. If a business earns money based on the number of deals or number of transactions, you can expect your role to focus on high velocity and constantly filling the pipeline with new deals. Think About the Ownership Expectations - How is the Company Financed and What do the Shareholders Expect? It is also very useful to think about how the company is financed and what the owners of the company expect. As an example, portfolio companies of private equity firms often have high expectations placed on them by their private equity managers. These companies are also often saddled with debt, which adds pressure on employees. This dynamic is also extremely obvious when you look at hedge funds. Hedge funds trade public stocks, so their investors can track performance extremely accurately. This tends to bring a high level of pressure, as investors know exactly how well you're doing on a daily basis. Less liquid asset classes like private equity and venture capital might have less day-to-day pressure to perform. Career Options 1. Long-Only Fund / Hedge Fund The first category we’ll cover is long-only funds, which sometimes take the form of mutual funds. Long-only funds and mutual funds are technically hedge funds, but functionally often feel distinct from the long-short hedge funds and “pods” that tend to offer a higher earning potential and more intense lifestyle. Long-only funds typically focus on realizing a company's intrinsic value and want to hold investments for the long run. In contrast to long-only funds, long-short hedge funds also “short” companies in order to reduce their overall risk exposure. Many of the largest mutual fund asset managers like Fidelity and Vanguard have long-only funds within them. There are also "purer" mutual funds like First Pacific Advisors and Select Equity that tend to focus more on stocks than other asset classes. Pros: Get to critically think about businesses and make strategic investment decisions Often have a longer-term time horizon and can take multi-year bets Culture and hours tend to be better than long-short funds or other hedge funds Cons: Often have lower earning potential than long-short hedge funds and other top-paying investing jobs Fund performance and earning potential may be severely hampered during bear markets due to an inability to short As with all hedge funds, investors may withdraw their money if performance is poor These long-only funds often have a much more tolerable culture than their long-short cousins. Long-only funds tend to also have a smaller number of investments than long-short funds. Long-short funds often hold positions for a shorter amount of time, which makes them a higher-velocity business. The main draw for me to a long-only fund is that it has the fun of learning about businesses without the same level of stress or intensity. The pay also seems solid (although well below the median of top long-short funds). 2. Pension Fund / Family Office / Endowment Fund The next category of jobs that tend to have a great work / life balance are pension funds, family offices, and endowment funds. These are essentially investment funds with extremely stable capital. Pension funds receive pension payments from their constituents (e.g., teachers, firemen, all employees in a nation). Family offices are funded by a single family (like MSD Capital or Soros Family Office) and manage the wealth of a small group of individuals. Endowment funds are established by a foundation, most commonly used by universities (with Harvard and Yale having huge endowments, each >$40B). Pros: Extremely stable capital leads to higher job security and less attrition Culture at these types of funds tends to be relatively better and less cutthroat Pension funds are some of the largest money managers in the world and their AUM commands respect around the world These funds are often given many special “co-invest” opportunities by virtue of their size Pension fund / endowment fund employees may have an easier time feeling like they contribute a net positive to society (“we’re helping teachers retire earlier!”) Whereas the majority of good private equity and hedge fund seats are in New York or San Francisco, many different states and regions tend to have pension funds. If you’re looking to move back home or to an obscure region, a pension fund might be the best job for you Cons: Earning potential tends to be lower, with many funds not offering carry or points The stakeholder base tends to be more risk-averse, which may restrict certain kinds of investment ideas The stable nature of this capital often makes a fund’s future more predictable. Most hedge funds face the ever-present risk of redemptions from investors if their performance sours for even a few quarters. The stress level of that business model can lead to substantially worse culture or working conditions. The risk of redemptions is significantly lower at these sorts of funds – it’s a near guarantee that teachers in Ontario will still contribute to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and that Harvard University will continue to manage its assets. Note that this category has more to do with the fund structure as opposed to the specific investing role. If you work at a pension fund, you could be investing in private equity, public markets, real estate, credit, etc. The work / life balance here is predicated on the structure and business model, not the job itself. The largest pension funds and endowments resemble the largest mega funds and invest in virtually every major asset class. 3. Investor Relations / Business Development The third category of finance jobs that tend to have a palatable work / life balance is investor relations and business development at an investment firm. This could be investor relations at a private equity firm, venture capital fund, hedge fund, etc. Lots of larger corporates will have investor relations teams as well, but the roles are different (no fundraising) and salary ceilings tend to be lower at corporates. Many investment bankers tend to migrate to these investor relations roles as they can build on their capital markets knowledge without having to endure as much suffering. The role of investor relations / business development employees is to communicate with investors on how the fund is doing, answer requests from investors, and raise capital for funds. To effectively do this job, you generally either need direct private equity experience or have had lots of exposure to capital markets. These roles tend to be more survivable because they don’t operate on short sprints or have to work on live transactions. Raising a fund and running an annual meeting can still involve a lot of stress and timelines, but it doesn’t tend to be as intense as working on the deal team. Pros: Get to interface with top investors from around the world More reasonable work / life balance and more predictable seasonality (busiest around quarterly earnings or reports) Learn about fund metrics and what prospective investors care about Cons: Earning potential may pale in comparison to the deal side May be less likely to receive carry due to indirect impact on investing side If you prefer the selling mindset and interfacing with “clients” or potential investors, you might enjoy a path in investor relations. A lot of top private equity folks on the deal side will switch to investor relations when they want to focus more on their personal life. Investor relations employees at a fund may arguably have more insight into the entire fund performance than an individual deal team member. Even if you’re an MD, you may be fully dedicated to a specific vertical and not get to see how the rest of the business comes together. In investor relations, you get to think big picture and craft a narrative for the fund as a whole. Conclusion A lot of top talent stays laser-focused on long-short hedge funds and private equity mega fund roles due to their prestige and earning potential. However, if you’re willing to make some compromises, there are still great career paths in finance with a decent work / life balance.

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. Transferring to Equity Research from a Corporate Job Moving to sell-side equity research from a non-investing office job is a viable path into the industry. From my experience in helping with the recruiting process at J.P. Morgan, I have seen some commonalities among candidates who have successfully transitioned into the capital markets from companies across a variety of industries, without relying on getting an MBA to have access to the structured recruiting paths some programs offer. The common thread between successful candidates includes: Spent their own time learning about investing prior to their first interview Joining teams that cover the exact company the candidate has worked at Joining teams covering the same or a similar industry they have experience in Worked in a corporate finance, strategy, or accounting-related role at a company While many of the successful candidates fall under one or more of the items above, they are by no means a requirement to break into the industry particularly if you’re approaching the job hunt from a non-traditional path. For example, some candidates have landed interviews from a Marketing background. Their networking would have focused on the unique insight they could bring to a team’s stock analysis framework from understanding a firm’s operating strategy through a marketing lens. That said, those who come from roles related to finance or accounting (Financial Planning and Analysis roles, Investor Relations, etc.) may have an easier time convincing their interviewers that they already have the skills to succeed in an equity research role without a lot of handholding from their team members. It could also make for a more straightforward story on why they are interested in making a switch to equity research. That's why it's crucial to learn investing fundamentals on your own if you're trying to make the switch from a job that isn't finance-tangential. Let’s step through some strategies you could employ to maximize your chances of landing an offer in equity research coming from any job at a corporate office. Learn the Technical Fundamentals on Your Own Joining an equity research team off-cycle means you’ll miss the training program that new on-cycle recruits go through, which covers topics such as financial modeling and valuation. Off-cycle recruitment is common in equity research (particularly when compared to investment banking) as team needs change throughout the year. While this means you’ll have to independently close the knowledge gap between yourself and on-cycle hires (or those who studied finance in school), it also means that you’ll have more opportunities to break into the industry throughout the year outside of set recruitment deadlines that many other jobs in finance have. We recommend you go through our course which will teach you all of the modeling, valuation, stock pitching, and recruiting strategy you need to get the job. This will also help you portray your knowledge as you network prior to your interviews. Your goal should be to make it clear that you will be a low-risk hire who won’t need to be walked through the basics of the job. There are exceptions, however, particularly in certain science-focused coverage groups such as Biotech, where industry specialization is highly valued as it’s much easier to teach someone with a science background how to build financial models than to teach a finance major the core concepts from a technical science degree on the job. See our blog on breaking into equity research with no finance background for more information on this topic. You should be comfortable with the following, all of which are covered in our course: Understanding how equity research fits in with other areas of an investment bank Finance fundamentals (three financial statements, modeling, forecasting, etc.) Valuation, stock selection, and stock pitching Discussing relevant current events / having a view of the market Focus Your Search on Coverage Groups that would Benefit from Your Experience While applying a scattershot approach to job hunting can yield results, we recommend you focus your efforts on opportunities with the greatest overlap with your recent jobs. We recommend employing a bottom-up approach at this stage in the job search process, meaning that you would start by finding teams that cover the specific companies (or similar companies) in which you have experience. You can search Google for your current public company’s name and “Analyst Coverage” to see a list of equity research analysts who cover the stock. For example, this page lists all the analysts which cover Carvana. Similarly, you can navigate any public company’s Investor Relations page to find its Analyst Coverage list. From there, you can broaden your search to capture opportunities that would cover stocks tangential to the companies you’ve previously worked at. See the table below for some inspiration depending on your experience: Running a quick search on LinkedIn could help you identify which banks to reach out to. Once you have developed a list of opportunities, start reaching out to current employees at your firms of interest while also directly applying to the jobs. Make a Plan of Action Before Reaching Out Research the firms before reaching out so that you can differentiate your outreach. Make sure to check out our blog here on this topic, as from the perspective of an interviewer or employee at the company you’re targeting, it’s extremely obvious when a candidate has put in the time and effort to study a firm. Also, check out our Coffee Chat Questions blog to help you feel more confident in your networking. Sending LinkedIn requests/messages can help you meet some current analysts (be sure to follow the proper etiquette). If you’re feeling bold, you can email employees directly by guessing their work emails or finding their emails from equity research reports online. Anecdotally speaking, I know that some analysts tend to be more receptive than others in answering cold emails, though it’s worth a shot if you’ve exhausted other options. Email members of teams that you know are hiring by finding job opportunities on their websites or on LinkedIn. Conclusion Leverage your current experience and skillset to optimize your job search and break into equity research. Your experience actually working at a company or industry that an equity research team covers could be extremely valuable, as you could provide insight into the inner workings of companies that the teams would not be privy to. Make sure that you learn the technical aspects of the job on your own time, as it would alleviate some hiring concerns from the people you’re interviewing or networking with.

If you're interested in breaking into finance, check out our Private Equity Course and Investment Banking Course, which help thousands of candidates land top jobs every year. Overview Apax Partners is a European private equity firm managing >$65B in assets. Apax's strategies include traditional private equity buyouts, growth equity, impact, and credit. Apax primarily invests in the industry categories of Tech, Services, Healthcare, and Internet / Consumer. Apax is a global private equity firm, with 7 locations worldwide including large offices in London and New York. Mitch Truwit, one of Apax's co-CEOs, has considerable operating experience, having served as the CEO of Orbitz Worldwide prior to joining Apax. Apax has a strong global presence, The firm was named Europe's Best Fundraising Firm in 2022. Remember that in order to craft a great answer to the common question "Why this Firm?", it's your responsibility to read articles and speak with employees. If you are interviewing with Apax Partners, you should make sure you know: 1 deal that the investment team you are recruiting with has done 1 person at the firm (ideally someone who would have influence over your recruiting process) 1 business model-specific detail to mention We explain how to answer qualitative questions and research private equity firms in our Private Equity Course. We also teach how to build LBO models and prepare for case study interviews. Selected Transaction Apax acquired an undisclosed stake in risk management company Alcumus from middle-market PE fund Inflexion. Transaction Description: Apax X, LP managed by Apax Partners LLP entered into a definitive agreement to acquire an unknown stake in Alcumus Holdings Ltd. from Inflexion Buyout Fund IV. Transaction Date: Closed March 2022 Transaction Value: £600mm Press Release Fact Sheet Company Name: Apax Partners Description: Apax Partners LLP ("Apax") is a leading global private equity advisory firm working to inspire growth and ideas that transform businesses Firm Category: Private Equity / Upper Middle Market Ticker: LON:APAX Founded: 1969 Assets Under Management: >$65B Flagship Private Equity Fund Size: Apax X (£11B raised in 2021) Co-CEOs: Mitch Truwit, Andrew Sillitoe Headquarters: London, England Resources Company Website LinkedIn Glassdoor H1B Data Page (U.S. Salary) Based on the H1B Database, the average base salary for an Associate at Apax Partners is $96k - $110k. We note that this salary information may be dated and not reflective of their current pay.