How to get a jab in the thriving secondaries market – a pe pathway

When Keith Brittain Was Starting Out, Buying Seconddand Shares in Private Funds Was Consider A Niche Investist Strategy.

“I Started at Hamilton Lane 2010 and Came from 10 Years of Investment Banking, and Until I Started Talking to The Team About the Role, Frankly, Back That I Didn’t Know About the Secondary Market at All,” Brittain, Cohead of Hamilton Lane Secondary Business, Tool Insider.

TODAY, The Practice of Buying Stakes in Private Funds from Investors Who Want to Sell Early is on the Lips of the Biggest Names in Private Equity AS “Secondaries” Fundraising Reachhes Record Levels.

Acciting to Michael AROUGHETI, CEO of Ares, Secondaries “Are Significant Beneficiary of A Slowdown” in the Economy. Blackstone President Jon Gray Said Secondaries ‘Ability to Provide Liquidity’ Will Be Seen As Attractive “In An Environment Where to Exit Deals.

Nor the industry evolves from a curiosity to a destination, a lucratative Career Path is Emerging. We spoke to recruiters and industry experts to understand the paths to a career in secondaries, as well as its perks.

They Said They See More Job Opportunities opening up as megafunds, Like Apollo, Launch inaugural Funds, and Industry Veterans Launch New Shops – As Vincent Gombault, Cofounder of Ardian, Did With Clipway in 2023.

“Other than Fundraising, the primary thing that it could have been talent,” Said Brittain. “We Need More Great Talent.”

Candidates, Howver, Could Son See More Competition as the Industry’s Reputation Appears to EU New Applicants. “WE ARE THOW SEEING INTERVENT FROM COLLEGE STUDENTS AND PEOPLE WHO CURRENTLY WORK AT BUYOUT FIRMS,” SaID MATT ROCHE, A Partner at Stepstone, A Private Markets Investor with $ 179 Billion in Asssets.

The Payoff, he added, Could be big for those who make it, including an improved chance at Becoming a partner, the Holy Grail of the Financial World.

“The most pessimistic participants in the secondary market Expect than to be one of the highest parts of all private equity and just alternatives generaly,” Roche Said.

Starting Your Career

The Most Common Path to A Job in Secondaries is to start from the bottom. Like with Other Private Equity Jobs, this offen means first doing a stint as an investment banking analyst beacus are a common hunting ground for private equity reCruiters.

“What we kep Hearing from? “They Want Bankers with Active Deal Flow Experience and Strong Technical Skills.”

Roche joined steppe as an analyst fresh out of undergrad.

“We Hir Analysts, test me for a couple of years, and that Keep I say even Associates,” Roche Said. Other Shops, Like Hamilton Lane and Blackstone strategical partners, Also hire analysts out of College into their secondaries even part of the Analyst Hiring Programs, providing an event mostly ino the industry.

And while investment banking backgrounds are the most common, candidates with Other profiles have brokens in.

Brittain Said That People Who Have Workhed in Accounting, Corporate Development, OR Jobs Evaluating Companies have Also Found roles as secondaries investors. And increasingly, steppe is hiring people who left buyout roles to try their Hands at Secondaries.

Seniors and specialists

Hilary Hurley, Managing Director at Amity Search Partners, Said Career Paths at the Mid-Level Are Similar to Those of Typical Private Equity Investors.

“They Eather Did Junior-Level Banking or Went to the Buyout World,” Hurley Said. “It is that it was kind of traditional Banker Experience.” ‘

The Exact Formula for the Perfect Candidate Differs Depending on the Firm and Strategy.

Hurley Said Role Focus On Deals Involving Private Equity Firms Looking to Sell a Portfolio Company to A New End With New Investors, Also Known as a Gp-LED DEAL, WILL “CANDIDATES AS INVESTORS.

“This is Because GP-LEED DEALS OFTEN REQUIRE UNDERSTANDING THE INTRICACIES OF The Underlying Asssets and Portfolio Companies,” Hurley Said.

Of Course, As One Gets Further Up The Chain, Having Real Secondary Experience Becomes Increasingly Essential. At minimum, you will need solid buyout Investing Experience and All of the Technical Skills that it brings.

IT’S ONE REASON MANY OF THE LARGEST FILLS FOCUS ON PROMOTING AND DEVELOPING IN-House Talent.

Opportunities for New Senior Role “Come Up Everyone,” Said Hurley, Such as new firm launches or an escabished firm launches a secondaries Business Line.

Growing Demand for the Secondaries Market Has Also Incresed roles that Support Deal Flow, Like Lawyers, Steven Siesser, Chair of the Private Equity Practice and Cochair of Transitions and Advisory Practice, at Lowenstein Sandler LLP Said.

“We have teams that will not nothing but secondaries Now,” Siesser Said. “There are transensional lawyers who spend their days buying and selling interests in GPS and LPS, ITE’S BECOME A COTTAGE INDUSTRY.”

Career Considerations and the Path to Partner

The Quality of Candidates, and Therefore Competition over Over Open Ros, is at an all-time high.

“Candidates SEEM SO MUCH More Familiar with Secondaries,” Connors Said. “They Have Done Their Research and Have More Conviction in This Assset Class and Building a Career here as an investor.”

Benefits to include more consistent hours, and pay has far -so caught up to the rest of the industry. For Those Taking the Long View, the industry’s growth Could Also improve one’s chances of Making Partner.

Acciting to Brittain, Just One to Two Percent of the Total Value of the Private Investment World Trades in the Secondary Markets – Leaving plenty of room for grown

“When you make new partners, they need to have a reasson to exist, and the pie has to grown to make work,” Roche Said. “As long as that pie is consistently growing, you can have pieces of that pie for everyone.”