Do you have to be rich to invest in private equity?
Investing in private equity is for large institutional investors and accredited investors that have high incomes and net worth—over $1 million. Not everyone, however, has the financial means to do that, given the typical minimum investment is typically $25 million.
Although you may be able to find a private investment opportunity that requires as little as $25,000, a common private equity investment minimum is $25 million. However, there are some non-direct ways to invest in private equity for much less, such as buying a share of a private-equity ETF.
Many private equity funds require a minimum commitment of $10 million or more. Through Morgan Stanley, however, you can participate in many of these funds for a minimum of $250,000.
In addition to meeting the minimum investment requirements of private equity funds, you'll also need to be an accredited investor, meaning your net worth — alone or combined with a spouse — is over $1 million or your annual income was higher than $200,000 in each of the last two years.
Who can invest? A private equity fund is typically open only to accredited investors and qualified clients. Accredited investors and qualified clients include institutional investors, such as insurance companies, university endowments and pension funds, and high income and net worth individuals.
Landing a career in private equity is very difficult because there are few jobs on the market in this profession and so it can be very competitive. Coming into private equity with no experience is impossible, so finding an internship or having previous experience in a related field is highly recommended.
Private equity owners make money by buying companies they think have value and can be improved. They improve the company or break it up and sell its parts, which can generate even more profits.
Any profits over and above 10% shall be split between the General Partner & Limited Partner using a ratio of 20% for the General Partner and the remaining 80% for the Limited Partner.
"Two" means 2% of assets under management (AUM), and refers to the annual management fee charged by the hedge fund for managing assets. "Twenty" refers to the standard performance or incentive fee of 20% of profits made by the fund above a certain predefined benchmark.
Also, private equity investments may involve the company using a significant amount of debt, which can be costly to service through interest payments over time. Overall, the risk profile of private equity investment is higher than that of other asset classes, but the returns have the potential to be notably higher.
How do you break into PE?
Entry Point: Associate Role (Pre-MBA)
While analyst roles are getting more popular in recent years, the associate level is where most people start their PE career. Instead of jumping straight into PE from college, they go through a few years of investment banking or management consulting first, then switch into PE.
Because they are not as regulated as mutual funds or traditional financial advisors, hedge funds are only accessible to sophisticated investors. These so-called accredited investors are high net worth individuals or organizations and are presumed to understand the unique risks associated with hedge funds.
Private equity is a core pillar of BlackRock's alternatives platform. BlackRock's Private Equity teams manage USD$35 billion in capital commitments across direct, primary, secondary and co-investments.
Position Title | Typical Age Range | Base Salary + Bonus (USD) |
---|---|---|
Associate | 24-28 | $150-$300K |
Senior Associate | 26-32 | $250-$400K |
Vice President (VP) | 30-35 | $350-$500K |
Director or Principal | 33-39 | $500-$800K |
Private equity firms make money through carried interest, management fees, and dividend recaps. Carried interest: This is the profit paid to a fund's general partners (GPs).
When a private equity firm recapitalizes a company, they often use debt financing to finance part of the acquisition price – we have written about this here. In addition, private equity firms often ask owners of the companies they buy to “roll over” or reinvest part of their equity into the new company going forward.
Private Equity Career Training
PE firms are small, tight-knit, and full of extremely smart and highly motivated people.
For a student looking to break into one of the top 10 PE firms, your chance is 1 in 300 or 0.33%. To break into one of the top 10 hedge fund firms, your chance is 1 in 147 or 0.68%.
Private equity firms usually seek someone with a strong sense of numbers. As such, the majors they generally look for include Finance, Accounting, Statistics, Mathematics, or Economics. GPA will, of course, be a factor here.
The 22 members on the latest Forbes 400 list who made their fortunes in private equity are now worth a combined $153.7 billion. Leading the list this year is Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of Blackstone Group, with a net worth of $37.4 billion.
How to invest in private equity with little money?
Investors can also indirectly buy into private equity through products like publicly-traded PE stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and fund of funds, which invest in private equity. In this case, investors don't have to meet SEC thresholds, so this option is possible regardless of an investor's income or net worth.
One way is to sell the company at a profit after making improvements to its operations. Another way is to take the company public, which can generate a large capital gain for the private equity firm. Some of the world's richest people have made their fortunes through private equity.
The '40 Act also contains a number of exemptions, including one for privately offered funds such as hedge funds, private equity funds, and real estate or infrastructure investment funds.
The Rule of 72 is a convenient method to estimate the approximate time for invested capital to double in value. By merely taking the number 72 and dividing it by the rate of return (or interest rate) expected to be earned, the output is the approximate number of years for an investment to double.
You can safely withdraw 8% per year of the money that you allocate towards The 8% Rule strategy; twice as much as the standard 4% rule. Example: if you have $100,000 to invest, the 4% rule will give you $4000/year whereas The 8% Rule will give you $8000/year - an extra $333 each month!
References
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