A handful of investment banking analysts plan for having a career in private equity as their next step. Generally, the private equity firms are small, unlike investment banks with a cut-throat competition as the positions are few. The firms hire the entry-level staffs as associates and to get into that role you must have two years of experience at least in investment banking field. The nature of work at top private equity firms is similar to investment banks. Grueling work hours are pretty common in any private equity career. They attract a massive capital from individuals, institutional investors, endowments, and foundations as well. The private equity firms normally invest the acquired capital in companies which are held privately. They make money from the fees that are being charged from the investors and the interests that are being carried from the prior investments. Some of the notable private equity firms are-Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, TPG Capital, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. The size of the firms is small to mid-sized with hundreds of employees.
The responsibilities of a private equity analyst are:
- To monitor the recent investments which are under the management.
- To finalize the yearly and quarterly reviews about the companies and their funds.
- Build and update the projection and valuation models for companies.
- Cooperate in the review and researching about the potential new investments opportunities.
- Study the present industry to gain knowledge about possible areas of investment in near future.
- To prepare a detailed report and confidential information memorandum as well.
- To review all the documentation and deals.
- To complete all the portfolio analysis and performance metrics.
- To have an open and clear communication with the senior associates of the firms to have prior knowledge of the new and existing investments.
Key Skills
- Landing a job at the private equity firm is one of the most exclusive achievements for many candidates. To build a successful private equity career, you must be reasonably intelligent but not the genius!
- Have a strictly strong work ethic. You have to be impeccably committed to your work. This emphasizes your interest in what you’re doing by showing your devotion for the industry.
- Always know more than anyone else. Find one area and make sure you know everything about that particular area. Be an expert in terms of knowledge in that area. This will help you in perceiving others that you’re an expert in this particular area. This helps in expanding your power play in any organization.
- You must have the mastery in written and oral communication as well. Explore various ways on how to enhance both of them. Learn about social media and how to express yourself in not more than 140 characters on Twitter.
- You have to be a team player because working in private equity means being in a team sport. So if you’re not very good at team then probably this is not your place. In your private equity career, this is one of the most important key skills as you’ll be expected to work with different kind of people, CEOs, colleagues and investment bankers.