Opportunities grow for IT professionals in private equity
Private equity funds, like venture capitalists, are always looking to invest in promising tech firms. But do they invest in good technology themselves?
According to Bob McDowall, senior analyst at Tower Group, there are growing opportunities for tech professionals looking to work in private equity funds, despite their history of not investing in the tech infrastructure.
For example, private equity funds need technology more and more to manage complex deal-flows in the interest of investors and fund managers. They also have to meet growing regulatory requirements, and technology is helping here, says McDowall.
"Private equity funds have many similarities in their demands for technology tools and financial data with venture capital firms, which fund enterprises at an earlier stage in their growth and development. They have common data management and screening requirements," said McDowell. His comments were made to IT newswire Silicon.com.
As such, private equity firms need sophisticated databases, communication and collaboration technologies, and virtual data room technology (VDR), a virtual conference room that has replaced the physical room that holds documents for all parties to view.
However, despite the need for IT professionals in private equity, few recruitment firms actually provide technologists to this sector.
Larry Dignan, an executive editor at ZDNet, may have the answer: "Private equity firms are more interested in their portfolios and leveraging operations than technology infrastructure. Bottom line: private equity firms may be more likely to outsource technology operations," he says.
As a result, IT jobs in private equity funds are hard to come by, but are likely to offer salaries in the same region as venture capital and hedge funds. So, an experienced Java, C# or C++ developer can expect packages in the region of 100k to 180k, with some hedge funds even offering up to 300k for Java, SQL and object-oriented design developers. Jobs like these are definitely worth keeping an eye out for.
