Women make up only 10 percent of the 700 plus professionals at Europe’s biggest private equity firms, according to an article from the Wall Street Journal online. This is a steep drop from a UK tally that shows women represent nearly half of that country’s overall financial services sector.
The data, from provider Pequin, showed that nearly half of the women who completed the survey thought their gender had a negative impact on their career. One reason is that many professionals enter private equity in their late 20s or early 30s, after having gained experience at other financial firms. This time period often conflicts with women who want to start a family at their time of their lives.
Nevertheless, Carol Kennedy, a senior partner at Pantheon Ventures, which had the highest number of female investment professionals in the survey, feels that success breeds success. “If you’ve got people (women) seen to be doing well in other firms or within a firm, you are more likely to recruit senior professionals,” she said.
Wall Street veteran Byron Wien was recently hired by private equity firm Blackstone Group as a senior strategist, reporting directly to Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman and COO Tony James.
Wien was formerly senior strategist at the giant hedge fund Pequot Capital Management, and before that, at Morgan Stanley. He’s well-known for publishing his annual forecast of ten surprises for the year, according to a report by Reuters.
Not surprisingly, Wien sees opportunities ahead for Blackstone’s private equity funds, especially in the areas of private equity, real estate and distressed debt. He thinks the economy has probably turned the corner, and that the U.S. may even have a positive quarter before the end of this year.
But banks will only start lending in earnest when they get toxic assets off their balance sheets, something that may take another 3-6 months. This would finally revitalize lending markets, a key for closing leveraged buyout deals of any significant size.
The marketing role within a private equity firm is a bit more constrained than other financial institutions such as investment banks or mutual fund companies. For one, private equity investors must be accredited investors, meaning they must meet certain thresholds for income ($200,000+ per year or net worth of $1 million or more), or be institutions.
Second, the main focus of marketing for private equity involves assisting the principals in raising new capital, and keeping current investors informed about the progress of the fund (investor relations).
Nevertheless, someone with an interest in finance and a strong background in marketing can find jobs at private equity firms. Marketing professionals help the firm manage their external image and attract capital through public relations activities, websites, articles, investor communications, and actively promoting the firm to influencers and intermediaries through events and networking. These marketing programs are designed to increase awareness of the firm and generate qualified deal flow.
PE marketing professionals will often be actively involved in the fundraising process. They must have experience and a comfort level in prospecting among high net worth investors and institutional decision-makers and making presentations. Most firms looking for marketing help will want someone with experience in the industry, along with a well-developed network of contacts among potential investors, family office executives and foundation investors.
Next time, we’ll look at the marketing role within venture capital firms.
