by Gail McManus
2. June 2010 14:51
We are approaching the end of the first half of the year and are pleased to see that many firms are hiring again with renewed confidence. This appears to be at all levels with experience being valued by many. Only time will tell whether the European banking crisis will drag us back into a down cycle. In the first quarter we would have said that we did not expect such a quick recovery, but from February to May we were mandated at a record level with a 100 new searches for roles with 60 private equity firms.
We think that part of the reason why recruitment is so active is to play catch up after much reduced hiring for a year or more. The first and second quarters of 2009 were at a standstill and hiring for the second half of 2009 was mostly for replacements or specialists but no one was adding headcount. Now we see teams looking to add experienced private equity investors from Associate to Partner to their teams.
Our clients are more demanding than ever in requiring transaction exposure when they hire. There is no substitute for relevant private equity experience, we agree. On the positive side, the expansion of investment teams at the peak of the market ran parallel to the record levels of fund raising and there are more professionals in private equity today than ever before. We’re benefitting from a long standing position in the market and have capitalized on our relationships with investment professionals whose careers we have followed, sometimes for a decade or more.
It is also interesting to see how the recruitment market for private equity has evolved and who is active today. Many recruiters and small search firms set up independently or spun off players over the last two years and it has become an increasingly fragmented market. We compete in pitches with large search firms as well as a host of new names in the market. This makes it an exciting and challenging market to work in and we are keen to keep adding value to the recruitment process.
I came into private equity as an investor in 1981. So after seeing almost 30 years of cycles you’d think I would be used to it – but I am as eager as anyone to see what else 2010 has to bring and still find the market as fun and exhilarating as it always was. Long live private equity!
Gail McManus - PER
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