Behind the allure of a private market career
Private market investments can be an attractive career path for professionals seeking varied and rewarding work. Industry insiders explain what potential candidates need to know.
Demand for talent in private market investments remains strong, despite a slowdown in deal activity as a result of market volatility and higher interest rates.
That’s because many firms are focused on the long run, preparing for continued expansion. Over the next few years, consultancy Bain expects private markets – including private equity (PE), private debt, venture capital, and infrastructure and real estate funds – to grow at twice the rate of public ones (see Figure 1). And to support that expected growth, they’re hiring aggressively.
Stimulating work
A consistent message from employers and practitioners during the CFA Institute Global Career Week 2025 was that private markets can be a great place for people who want variety in their investment careers.
Eihorere Wesigye, Manager, Special Situations Group, of British International Investment, said: “I've worked with a lot of people who have 30-plus years of experience in private markets, and even they are always learning something new.”
That variety stems in part from the fact that firms in private markets are often small and agile and have a higher appetite for risk than the large institutions that dominate public markets. This could open the door to a broader range of investments in an era of heightened macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, as well as accelerating technology- and climate-related disruption.
“With the uncertainty that’s happening at the moment globally in various markets, there’s an opportunity to invest in sectors where some of the bigger financial institutions might not be able to move in quickly,” said Rustum Bharucha, Group Director, of Mercuri Urval.
“Your large, traditional, highly regulated financial institutions may not be able to service a particular sector because it doesn’t fit in with their risk appetite,” he added. “That’s one of the reasons private markets have grown considerably over the last 10 to 15 years.”
Moreover, private markets can provide investment professionals a chance to be at the forefront of investments in new technology, such as scaling climate solutions.
Anu Gupta, Senior Principal Consultant, Investment Business, of Mercer, said: “[Private markets firms] often provide the necessary capital for innovative companies that you may not really see in the public domain, such as companies focused on developing new technologies and solutions to address sustainability challenges.”
That’s because they tend to have longer investment horizons, she said. “This aligns very nicely with the long-term nature of sustainability goals, allowing them to focus on sustainable business models that may take time to mature and generate returns – that’s a luxury that public companies don’t tend to have.”
Furthermore, private equity firms often take a very active role in managing their portfolio companies. This hands-on approach can enhance sustainability performance and value creation for investors who are pursuing impact investments and sustainable investments in general,” said Gupta.
Sought-after skills
The variety of private market assets means employers are often seeking in-depth knowledge, which opens the door to candidates from non-finance careers.
“If you’re much later in your career and you’re considering this kind of pivot, perhaps the best way is to look for investment firms or vehicles that are aligned with your experience,” said Wesigye. If you’re coming from an aerospace background, for example, there are firms focused on investing in that sector, while firms dedicated to healthcare “love to hire doctors.”
Human skills are crucial too, to communicate insights effectively and motivate teams and customers to take action – arguably more so in the context of relatively small and agile firms, which typically call on employees to handle a wider range of responsibilities.
Exercising human judgement can also be key to telling the difference between a good investment and a bad one, because not everything is in the numbers. There’s also value in being able to vet and manage the individuals involved. As Wesigye put it: “It’s very hard to have a successful investment when you’re dealing with a very unethical partner or management.”
Adding to useful tips for people looking for jobs in private markets, Wesigye stressed the value of “putting yourself out there” and honing networking skills. In addition to joining professional bodies and attending industry events, in-depth research can make a difference whenever connecting with people on LinkedIn. “That’s very different to just going in cold and asking them to tell you what they do,” said Wesigye.
Demand for analytics
It’s also a good idea to pursue relevant professional qualifications. “It takes away the uncertainty from a prospective employer that the person they’re bringing in has the skills and understanding of what’s needed to get that return on equity for investors,” said Bharucha.
He added that analytical fluency has become even more important as interest rate trends change.
“When money was cheap, access to financing was a lot easier. PE firms would be happy to invest in 10 companies, and if eight of them failed and two succeeded, that was good for them,” he said, adding that the acceptable failure rate in the current environment is down to five companies out of 10.
“There’s more of an emphasis on growth and operational efficiencies. So, the ability to really analyze the financials of a business, understand the business model, and quickly assess what’s worth investing in is what PE firms really want.”
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