Hands: PE candidates becoming less happy

The lucrative pay checks available in private equity today is resulting in bitterness and envy amongst the next generation of private equity professionals, Terra Firma chairman Guy Hands reportedly told an investment conference in the Netherlands.

Nostalgic for the days when unproven buyout artists frequented “three start hotels” and “drank modestly priced wine”, Hands reportedly said that private equity job candidates are “becoming less and less happy.”

“Interviewing private equity people makes one feel like an agony aunt. No one seems satisfied and everyone seems envious and critical of everyone,” Hands later told the The International Business Times.

Private equity remains one of the most competitive financial sectors to enter, enticing thousands of junior investment bankers to annually compete for private equity associate positions that are in short supply.

At Harvard Business School, a sought after target by private equity recruiters, 13 percent of the class of 2015 landed private equity jobs, which offered MBA graduates a $150,000 median base salary, the second highest industry category after consulting, with a median $25,000 signing bonus and median other guaranteed compensation of $90,000.

In comparison, investment banking , the traditional target of top finance students, offered MBA graduates a $125,000 median base salary, with a median $47,500 signing bonus and other guaranteed compensation of $10,000, the Harvard-specific data shows.