When sporting prowess is a prerequisite to working in private equity
It may no longer be sufficient to have an unblemished academic record and several years' experience at a top bank if you want to work in some areas of private equity: a history of sporting achievement is also necessary.
"There is one major European fund which has a strong preference for sporting heroes," says David Howell, managing director of EM Financial. "Ideally, they want people who have represented their country. That level of sporting achievement is seen as an indicator that they are truly multi-dimensional; it also gives them an additional point of contact with investee companies."
The fund in question is reportedly also only really interested in hiring people with investment banking experience from Goldman, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, or BofA Merrill Lynch.
Investment banks also have a partiality to sports people. Last year, Deutsche Bank appointed an iron man triathlete and Scottish youth rugby international as its chief executive. Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America is reputedly a dedicated and crafty rugby player.
A quick scroll through the profiles of various private equity executives doesn't reveal much in the way of sporting excellence, however. Some even look fairly out of shape.
