We also saw mid-market private equity interest in big four lead advisors and financial due diligence managers throughout the year and we had a sense of improving quality from these backgrounds.

Click here to read the full article 

We have successfully rolled out a new programme for business schools and MBA programmes including a workshop and individual coaching for students seeking roles in private equity.  

Recent feedback includes:  

     “Extremely useful for interviews and CV preparation.” 

     “The presentation was amazing.” 

     “A focus on practical advice not just big picture strategy.”

For more details on running something similar at your business school, visit our careers page or contact leonie.wilson@perecruit.com who can coordinate your specific requirements.

PER’s team led by Victoria Hyde is keeping busy with mandates and Gail McManus spent time with the Mexican Private Equity Association, AMEXCAP as well as at the leading business school, IPADE, helping industry leaders think about how they recruit, retain and reward team members in this expanding sector.

PER continued to sponsor the Private Equity Foundation’s Day of Engagement on 11th October 2011 and it was a huge success.  150 volunteers from 12 different private equity firms went to a community centre in Stratford and transformed the outside area into a haven for children and young people.  

PER were proud to support the PEF, the disadvantaged children and the young people they work with by supplying the sweatshirts.  It was lovely weather, but slightly chilly so there was a sea of PER black sweatshirts. 

For more information on the challenge or to support PEF, please visit: www.privateequityfoundation.org 

‘Recent research has shown that only 44% of CEOs deliver returns of two times or more to their private equity backers. Our breakfast workshop focused on identifying the characteristics of success.’ 

Dr Sabine Dembkowski, an international executive coach and co-author of ‘7 Steps to Effective Executive Coaching’ put together a highly practical session on the distinguishing characteristics of successful CEOs in private equity backed businesses. Using research by Professor Steven Kaplan at Chicago Booth School of Business, Sabine was able to show the worrying results that only 44% of CEOs deliver returns of two times or more to their private equity backers. Kaplan and his team identified 14 characteristics that the high performers displayed.  Sabine was able to show us how to identify these characteristics in the CEOs through a mix of competency based questions, 360% feedback and psychometric profiling. The result was a highly pragmatic guide that private equity professionals can use in due diligence on their management teams.  To receive a free copy of this guide, email us at info@perecruit.com.

PER were delighted to sponsor the Investor Allstars Venture Capital Awards 2011 on Thursday 22nd September at London’s Natural History Museum. 

 

Investor AllStars is one of the most important events in the venture capital community, recognising the leading investors and risk-takers and have been labelled the ‘Oscars’ for venture capital.

Gail McManus was very pleased to sponsor and present the VC Personality of the Year, the winner was Niklas Zennström, CEO and Founding Partner, Atomico Ventures and the award was collected by Mattias Ljungman, Partner, Atomico Ventures.

We are delighted to announce that Campbell Lutyens has hired Katarina Kramplova as an Executive. Katarina will play an important role in their leading Secondaries teams.

PER wishes Katarina all the best and looks forward to hearing all about the exciting transactions that she will be involved in as a part of Campbell Lutyens.

We were delighted to take part in the Altius Art Exhibition on Thursday 9th June, Artwork donations were made in the form of framed paintings, photographs and sculptures. 

We were thrilled with the piece of art that we came back with, the work is by Clemens Koob.

PER LatAm is actively recruiting for the developing Mexican private equity market. 

 

If you are interested in recruiting in Mexico or returning to Mexico as an associate or experienced private equity professional, please contact Victoria Hyde on victoria.hyde@perecruit.com or call her on +52 (55) 5540 6600

PER are delighted to announce that we recently received a certificate of recognition for the Investors in People Standard. We are very proud to have held this important award since 2005.

 

“Such excellent feedback demonstrated that managers were effective in leading and developing people and re-enforce why PER deserved to be recognised as one of the best organisations in the country through its achievement of the Investors in People Standard.  PER’S core values were clear and to the point.”   Investors in People Assessor

 

This is a fantastic achievement for us, as a leading Private Equity Recruitment Consultancy and shows our ongoing dedication to people and commitment to continuous business improvement. 

We are always keen to talk to aspiring recruiters, look at our current vacancies for more details.

 

On Friday 20th May Gail McManus was a speaker on the "Careers in Private Equity’’ panel for the 10th annual Private Equity Conference at INSEAD’s Fontainebleau campus.

The INSEAD Private Equity Club has held the Private Equity Conference annually since 2002. The event has become Europe’s largest student-organised private equity gathering and has evolved into an exceptional forum for discussion of the latest industry developments within the setting of a collegial campus environment.

With 40+ panelists, 150 ~ 200 industry participants, 150+ students and keynote speakers from some of the most prestigious names in the industry, it was an insightful day full of varied input and thought provoking discussions.

For further details on the conference, please see the IPEC Conference Website 

PER's Gail McManus visited the International University of Monaco last week to present to students on "How To Get a Job In Private Equity".  

 

They really enjoyed Gail's presentation, this was some of the feedback we received from the students: 

 

“Gail is a great lecturer, she came across with practical examples and situations that made her lecture lively and really inspirational“ ...

 

“Lively, hands–on, focused on the PE recruitment, I learnt a lot,  and I hope that I could have in mind all Gail’s tips/ hints and examples during my next interviews“ ...

 

“I liked Gail‘s straightforward approach, thanks to her, I understood that a career in PE is not for me!“ ...

 

“It is nice to hear that PE is based on common sense and rigor – I would like to practice the case studies / modeling skills exercises, in order to be better prepared" 

PER were delighted to sponsor the Private Equity Awards 2011 on Wednesday 13th April at The London Hilton on Park Lane. 

 

The Private Equity Awards recognise the very best achievements of individuals and firms working within venture capital and private equity. Presented by Real Deals, these annual awards are the ultimate accolade for the industry's dealmakers and advisers.

Gail McManus was very proud to sponsor and present the Hall of Fame: Lifetime Achievement Award, the winner was Javier Echarri, Managing Partner at GED Capital.

 

The first quarter of 2011 is off to a fabulous start for us, it has been our highest placing quarter with 38 candidates starting new roles within private equity. These include eighteen analysts and associates, ten experienced private equity professionals and four people into fund raising roles.  

We’re continuing to see growth in the level of activity in the market and we hope this will continue.

On Tuesday we hosted our latest HR Breakfast Workshop. This quarter we discussed how the Revised FSA Remuneration Code will affect pay and bonuses within private equity, both from a recruiting perspective but also compensating existing staff. 

We invited Tim Wright, a Director at PriceWaterhouse Coopers, to speak at this event. Tim is an expert on compensation issues related to the asset management industry.

 

Although on the face of it, the subject is quite dry, Tim gave a fascinating and challenging account of the issues that could face private equity over the next year or two with regard to disclosure of remuneration to the FSA. Tim did a great job of shedding some light on what is clearly a very complex issue.

PER also took the opportunity to give an update on banking Associate pay including first quarter bonus payments, base salary increases and numbers of bankers in each year group across the main banks, this is always a topic of high interest.

If you are an HR professional in private equity and would be interested in attending future events, please contact Leonie on events@perecruit.com 

Once again you’ll have the chance to put your money where your mouth is and predict the outcome of some of 2011’s leading economic and private equity indicators whilst supporting the Private Equity Foundation, PEF.

Make an online donation to the Foundation through our justgiving.com page and open up the Private Equity Recruitment 2011 Crystal Ball Charity Quiz. 

 

Donations can be made anonymously from as little as £5 and all of your donations will go to PEF to help young people not in education, employment or training reach their full potential.

The winner of our 2010 Crystal Ball Charity Quiz is Laura Dillon who snatched the lead from our interim winner Allan Beattie at Company Guides Venture Partners.  Laura has scored the highest on our quiz and has won a £100 voucher for lunch at a restaurant of her choice.

 

The quiz will give you the opportunity to test your own forecasting ability on some of 2011’s greatest events. We’ll announce the winner on 31st January 2012 and they’ll receive a £100 voucher for lunch at a restaurant of their choice. 

Here’s a sample of the quiz questions

 

• What will the Eurozone base rate be on 30th December 2011? 

• Who will win the US Open Golf Championship? 

• What will the size of the largest reported buy-out in Europe during 2011 be?

• Which country will win Eurovision in 2011?

Once you’ve made your donation through our justgiving.com page you’ll be given a link to our Crystal Ball Quiz.

Entries will close on 13th May 2011 and an interim winner will be announced on 19th August 2011and will receive a bottle of champagne.

** The Private Equity Foundation (PEF) is a leading venture philanthropy fund which works with carefully selected charities to empower young people to reach their full potential.  Its investments address the NEET (young people not in education, employment or training) issue and include not just money but also pro bono expertise from the private equity community.

Gail McManus and Oliver Gilkes recently visited Doha, the capital of Qatar, and Abu Dhabi in order to meet a number of exciting, growing clients in the region. 

The Middle East continues to be a priority for PER. It is an exciting time for both economies as they continue to grow both economically and in diversity.

 

Qatar’s economic growth has been particularly strong. Their nominal GDP, estimated to be $128 billion in 2010, grew by 15.9% in 2010. Qatar's 2007 per capita GDP was $67,000, and is projected to soon be the highest in the world. The Qatari Government's strategy is to utilise its wealth to generate more wealth by diversifying the economic base of the country beyond hydrocarbons.

The Abu Dhabi economy also continues to grow. Abu Dhabi is currently developing a major new cultural district on Saadiyat Island (an island 500 metres off the Abu Dhabi mainland), including The Louvre Abu Dhabi art gallery. This will further strengthen Abu Dhabi’s attractiveness as a place to both live and work. 

PER were delighted to attend as sponsors the Rosenblatt New Energy Awards on Thursday 24th February.  It is the second year we’ve been involved with the awards and are proud to sponsor such a prestigious event.  The attendees are a healthy mix of private equity/venture capital professionals, advisors, utility/retail companies and sme’s.

Platina won the investor of the year award, and our very own Charlie Hunt is pictured below presenting the advisory firm of the year award to Easy MCS.

There have been exciting developments with the Business Growth Fund this month with the appointment of Stephen Welton as CEO and Sir Nigel Rudd as Chairman.

The fund is starting to take shape now and has it's sights firmly set on a launch date of the 14th April. A temporary website is now up and running and we'd encourage you to take a look at it www.businessgrowthfund.co.uk.

We'll have more news on the fund in the months ahead.

We are delighted to say that 2010 was a busy year for PER and 2011 has started well. We had more than 100 of our candidates start in new jobs with our clients last year, from Analyst to Partner and from Cleantech to Investor Relations, which is an upcoming part of the business. And this year has started equally well with another eighteen taking up their posts in the New Year.

Our placement split by level has remained consistent with analyst and associates entering into private equity for the first time representing about 60% of our placements and the balance splitting roughly equally between mid level and senior hires. 

We are optimistic for 2011 and start the year with over 20 new roles and a strong pipeline of searches and great client relationships in place.

So a super 2010 and a good start to 2011. Long may it continue. 

 

We run early morning interactive workshops for a limited number of people on how to get a job in private equity.  Following the success of our previous workshop in Germany, we will be running the next one in Munich on Tuesday 15th February. 

There are now only a few places available so please book soon.

For more information and to book your place on this workshop, please go to our Private Equity Careers Centre website.