Hey guys, recently got two FoF offers from StepStone and AlpInvest. Both cover APAC region. Any thoughts on these two comps in terms of culture, team dynamics, deal exposure, career development, etc.?
Sincerely appreciate anyone’s contribution here. May your work/life balance be consistently better!
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Also from what I know, StepStone has a fairly flexible exposure with opportunities to do primaries, secondaries and co-investments. But for Alpinvest, it would be solely primaries.
In terms of compensation, Alpinvest is 20% higher than StepStone pre-tax.
Thanks a lot guys!
If the role at AlpInvest is just primary whereas in StepStone, you get exposure to all 3, I would go for StepStone as you will gain a broader skillset.
Thanks! Guess I shouldn’t zoom in comp numbers too soon for now…
bump
Anyone? Thanks!
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Thanks. So it’s like hierarchical / bad work-life balance etc.?
Have heard the same. Very hierarchal and layered. Work life balance isn't great either.
Thank you both, which office have you heard about?
Stepstone’s geographical coverage is strongest in the US, then Europe. In Asia Pacific, they seem to mainly be China focused. Their recent acquisition of Greenspring should improve the VC part of their coverage.
Do you know if you will work on a specific strategy (primary, co-invest etc) or will you be generalist?
Their culture seems pretty good.
Hi Franco, thanks for the info. I will be a generalist with flexibility across primaries, co-invest, and secondaries at StepStone. At Alpinvest, I will be with their primary fund investment team. AlpInvest’s Asia head of primary fund & secondaries promised to give me some exposure on secondaries, she also told me it would be unlikely to have additional bandwidth for secondaries work….
Stepstone will give you broader exposure then and perhaps you can specialize later. I think getting co-invest exposure is pretty important if you want to preserve some optionality for a direct role (still a stretch but not as much as a stretch with no co-invest).
Do you have sense for timing of career progression and how comp changes as you move up? I assume carry allocation isn’t until you are a few levels up the chain?
Hey Franco, this is actually another dilemma. At StepStone, you will be eligible for global carried interest starting from VP and I need another 5 years to get there. At Alpinvest, you will be eligible for carry from senior associate, which takes 3-4 years. Not sure about the carry amount at StepStone (rumor says that a VP gets first year carry at 20k post tax). AlpInvest told me it’s gonna be 800k-1mil for senior asso, 80% vestable after 4 years of having the eligibility. VP would be 1.5-2mil, Principal even higher.
are you intentionally misleading people? Their HQ and primary presence is in Europe, they are just beginning their push into US markets.
What is your source? SS was founded in the US, HQ in the US and listed on NASDAQ. You can verify this for yourself.
curious as to what comp / work life balance would be at either of these funds.
Hi, I am in the middle of the interview for AlpInvest Primary Fund Team. Can I reach out to you for some information? Looking forward to your reply :)
Bumping. Thoughts on Stepstone’s private debt team? Culture? Comp? Carry?
20% is nothing to sneeze at.
I think in your particular case considering outside advice isn’t helpful.
I think you need to focus on the team members you met through your interview process and determine which team would be best for you in terms of meshing, mentor ship and work life balance. I know it’s hard because everyone seems nice when they are recruiting you, but follow your gut.
Also, if you’re leaning towards step stone, be honest with them and say you’re my first choice but another competitor also has given me a higher offer. I’m still leaning towards you, but if you could close the gap it would be much appreciated.
My professor once said the best times to negotiate pay bumps are when joining a new firm. I know it’s a super uncomfortable conversation to have, and I hated doing it, but it’s always worked out for me.
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