Job vacancy: M&A banker for private equity role, Germany

Many investment bank staff would love to change career into private equity. It can be more fun, more autonomous and better paid. But getting in is not easy.

One route is to work for a company in which a private equity fund has invested. Funds are often on the lookout for people from a variety of backgrounds to take such a role. One example is an associate position in Berlin currently advertised by the headhunter Private Equity Recruitment (PER).

The job is with a company that focuses on real estate and PER's client is an international private equity firm that has a big investment in it. The advert seeks candidates with two or three years of mergers and acquisitions experience with a top tier financial institution.

"It's a wide ranging role," said Emma Rubens, a PER consultant. "As well as financial modelling and analysis, the successful candiate will support the operational side of the business."

While nothing is guaranteed, such a job can be a stepping-stone into private equity proper.

Rubens says leveraged finance is a particularly useful background for investment bank staff wanting to get into private equity.

Like other big markets in Europe, Germany has suffered a steep decline in venture capital investment. It fell 42% in the last quarter of 2002 from the year before, to €121m. Some foreign firms have pulled out of Germany, sometimes just two years or so after moving in.

But Rubens says other private equity firms are still hiring, as the industry mostly has a long-term outlook. The private equity capital of Germany is probably Munich, though it has lost its lustre with the decline of technology firms. Frankfurt and Berlin are also big centres.

For most roles fluent German is of course required, as well as fluent English where the firm is an international one.

Rubens said the salary for the advertised Berlin role would be around €75,000-80,000. That means whoever takes it might be looking at a big pay cut, if they have a few years under their belt at an investment bank in London or New York. But she expects no lack of takers.

Job Vacancy looks at advertisements from both eFinancialCareers.com and other sources