The Private Equity List
Live indexThe top private equity firms for analysts and associates, ranked.
Lists of the top private equity firms are usually written for investors and rank by assets or capital raised. This one is for candidates: which firms hire analysts and associates, what they call the roles, what each has put in writing about pay, and where to apply. It ranks 32 buyout and growth equity firms, and lists 5 credit managers separately, without a rank. Every pay figure is a base salary read from the firm’s own posting and labelled with the exact role it was posted for. Of the 37 firms on the page, 15 post no roles at all, and we say so instead of guessing.
Sources: each firm’s own job board, postings and careers pages. The order is an editorial ranking of buyout and growth equity firms that follows a review by someone with industry knowledge. It does not use posted pay. Last verified November 11, 2026. How we rank →
Blackstone describes itself in its postings as “the world’s largest alternative asset manager”, investing across real estate, private equity, credit, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, secondaries and hedge funds. On November 11, 2026 its two job boards carried no US private equity analyst, associate or summer analyst role. The junior investing roles it did post in the US were in Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI) in New York, and every one asked for prior experience.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Blackstone PE page →
KKR is a global investment firm that, in its own words, “offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions”, and it sponsors funds in private equity, credit and real assets. It owns the insurer Global Atlantic, which accounts for a large share of its open roles. On November 11, 2026 no US private equity analyst or associate role was posted. The junior investing roles were one private credit Associate/Analyst role and 2027 MBA internships.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full KKR PE page →
Apollo is an alternative asset manager and retirement services provider (through Athene) built on private equity, credit and hybrid strategies, and it shares its job board with Athene. On November 11, 2026 it had no private equity or analyst-level role posted. Its one junior investing role with pay was in consumer asset-backed finance, a structured credit business and not corporate direct lending.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Apollo Global Management PE page →
Carlyle’s postings describe it as “a global investment firm with $485 billion of assets under management, across 678 investment vehicles as of June 30, 2026”, and give Global Credit about $211 billion and direct lending about $14 billion as of the same date. On November 11, 2026 it had 2-Year Associate roles and a liquid credit research associate role live in New York. It had no US private equity investing role: its private equity postings were product specialist, fund management and technology roles.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Carlyle PE page →
TPG manages $346 billion as of September 30, 2026, per its home page, which splits that into Capital ($98B, large-scale control private equity), Growth ($37B), Impact ($37B), Credit ($108B), Real Estate ($43B) and Market Solutions ($23B). On November 11, 2026 its board listed 13 postings and none was on an investment team: they were in credit asset management and client coverage, Y Analytics, accounting, compliance and engineering.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full TPG PE page →
Bain Capital is a private investment firm established in 1984, with businesses in Private Equity, Growth & Venture, Capital Solutions, Credit & Capital Markets and Real Assets. Both associate roles it had posted on November 11, 2026 ask for two to three years of experience at an investment bank or another investment firm, and the Special Situations role also accepts management consulting. It also runs Investors of Tomorrow, a half-day program for undergraduate sophomores, which is not a job.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Bain Capital PE page →
EQT describes itself as “a purpose-driven global investment organization focused on active ownership strategies” with, in its words, “a Nordic heritage and a global mindset”. Its postings say: “EQT has €354 billion in total assets under management (€195 billion in fee-generating assets under management) as of 30 September 2026, within four business segments – Private Capital, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Secondaries.” On November 11, 2026 its board carried 11 postings. One was in the United States, a Vice President role in tax compliance in New York, and none was a junior investing role.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full EQT PE page →
Warburg Pincus is a private partnership founded in 1966 that calls itself “the pioneer of global growth investing” and invests across stages from growth to buyout. It hires a full-time analyst class straight from undergraduate and posts the base salary, which no other firm on this list does. “Each Analyst is assigned to an industry sector where they can specialize and build the foundation for becoming an expert in that area.”
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Warburg Pincus PE page →
Hellman & Friedman is a buyout firm with offices listed in San Francisco, New York and London. Its site says: “Over our investing history, we have raised over $70 billion of committed capital and have invested in over 100 companies.” The site has no careers page and we found no job board. A candidate privacy notice page exists, which confirms the firm receives applications by some route, but it does not say which.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Hellman & Friedman PE page →
Thoma Bravo is a software-focused buyout firm with Flagship, Discover, Explore, Europe and Credit platforms. Its site reports about $170 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2026, about 80 current portfolio companies and about 600 transactions. The site has no careers page, and the firm’s Lever job board exists but listed zero postings on November 11, 2026.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Thoma Bravo PE page →
Permira describes itself as “a specialist Private Equity and Credit platform with a transatlantic focus”. Its About page says: “We are a global investment firm founded in Europe in 1985, under the Schroder Ventures name.” “Today, we have more than 500 people in 15 offices spanning Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia.” The site has no careers page and we found no job board; its “Life at Permira” page describes culture only.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Permira PE page →
Apax is a private equity firm with buyout, growth, impact and credit strategies and eight offices, including London and New York. Its home page shows c.$80bn of aggregate funds raised. Its careers page says: “We like to grow our own teams, and we do that by investing in talent early. Most of our current investment team joined at the Associate level.” On November 11, 2026 the same page read: “Unfortunately we currently have no available opportunities. Please check back again soon”.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Apax PE page →
Silver Lake is a technology investor with offices listed in Menlo Park and New York. Its site reports approximately $126 billion of assets under management and committed capital as of June 30, 2026. It has no job board: the only careers route on the site is an email address under “Career Opportunities” on its Connect page.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Silver Lake PE page →
Vista describes itself as “a preeminent technology investor, specializing in enterprise AI and software, with over $100 billion in AUM”. It takes open applications for a summer analyst class, an associate class and an MBA summer associate class; no other buyout firm on this list had all three posted. “Associates join a structured class cohort with a formal training curriculum covering financial modeling, SaaS diligence frameworks, and deal execution, alongside senior mentorship from Vista’s investment team.”
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Vista Equity Partners PE page →
“Hg is one of the world’s leading technology and services investors, with offices in London, Munich, New York, Paris, San Francisco, & Singapore.” Its site says it manages “over $110 billion in assets”. It has no careers page and we found no job board: the “Life at Hg” page describes culture and benefits and lists no roles.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Hg PE page →
Advent is a global buyout firm that invests by sector across developed and emerging markets. Its site reports $109 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2026, and its GPE X fund closed at a $25 billion hard cap. The site has no careers page and we found no job board; its “Advent at Work” page describes culture and training only.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Advent International PE page →
Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) is a buyout firm. Its site has a “Working at CD&R” page, which describes culture only (“We hire talented professionals and believe in the value of diverse teams.”), and a job applicant privacy notice, but no openings and no job board. We found no assets-under-management figure on the pages we read.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Clayton Dubilier & Rice PE page →
General Atlantic is a global growth equity firm. Its postings say it “manages approximately $126 billion in assets under management, inclusive of all strategies, as of March 31, 2026, with more than 900 professionals in 20 countries across five regions”. It recruits an associate class by year: in June 2025 it said it “does not plan to conduct formal interviews or extend offers this year for the Associate Class of 2027.” (as quoted by Banking Dive). In the US on November 11, 2026 it had two junior roles posted in New York: Associate, Life Sciences, and Analyst, Portfolio Management, which is a fund and portfolio reporting team and not a deal team.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full General Atlantic PE page →
“CVC is a leading global private markets manager focused on private equity, secondaries, credit and infrastructure with a global network of 31 local offices and €239 billion of assets under management”; its site dates the assets figure to 30 September 2026. One of those offices is in New York. The “Working at CVC” page describes the team in general terms, lists no roles and gives no way to apply, and we found no job board.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full CVC PE page →
Leonard Green & Partners describes itself as “a leading private equity investment firm founded in 1989 and based in Los Angeles with approximately $85 billion of assets under management”, a figure it dates to December 31, 2025. Its home page says: “LGP’s single office in Los Angeles fosters a collaborative culture and nimble decision making”. The site has no careers page, and we found no job board.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Leonard Green & Partners PE page →
Insight Partners is a software investor spanning venture, growth equity and buyouts. Its site says: “As of December 31, 2025, the firm has over $90B in regulatory assets under management.” Its campus page says it “has been sourcing and investing in innovative, high growth software companies for 30+ years”. Its analyst program is built on sourcing: “As a sourcing analyst on Insight’s Investment Team, you are the lifeblood of our firm. Without you, our deal pipeline does not exist.” On November 11, 2026 its job board listed no postings, and its Campus Recruiting Talent Pool form says “This is not an active job posting.”
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Insight Partners PE page →
Ares has businesses in private equity, credit, real assets and secondaries, and it is ranked here on the first. Its own posting describes that business: “Ares Private Equity flagship corporate opportunities strategy pursues investments in growth-oriented middle market companies in North America and Europe.” The one private equity investing role on its board on November 11, 2026 was Associate, Private Equity in Los Angeles, a lateral seat that “requires 2+ years of prior private equity experience”. The junior investing roles, and the posted pay, were in the credit arm: Associate, Credit, US Direct Lending (New York and Los Angeles), Alternative Credit and Infrastructure Debt. We could not source a figure for the size of Ares Private Equity or of the firm, so none is stated here.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Ares Management PE page →
Partners Group is a private markets manager investing in private equity, infrastructure, real estate, private credit and royalties. Its postings say: “We have USD 185 billion in assets under management and around 2,000 professionals across 24 offices worldwide.” Most of its hiring is outside the United States: 10 of the 75 postings on its board on November 11, 2026 were US roles, in New York and in Broomfield, Colorado, which a posting calls its regional headquarters. They included a private equity associate, private credit associates and an MBA summer associate program.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Partners Group PE page →
Brookfield is a diversified manager, and it is ranked here on its private equity business. “Brookfield Asset Management is a leading global alternative asset manager with over US$1 trillion of assets under management across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power and transition, private equity and credit.” Its own posting says: “The private equity group has $150 billion of assets under management, with an integrated team of investment and operating professionals located in key regions around the world.” On November 11, 2026 a private equity associate role, Investment Associate, Private Equity, was posted in Toronto and stated no pay; no private equity analyst or associate role was posted in the United States. The junior investing roles posted in New York were in its Energy and Infrastructure groups.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Brookfield PE page →
“GTCR LLC is a leading private equity firm, based in Chicago, with over 40 years of deep sector expertise.” Its site cites “deep domain expertise within Financial Services & Technology, Healthcare, Technology, Media & Telecommunications and Business & Consumer Services”. The site has no careers page and we found no job board. We could not read a capital figure: the site builds its pages in the browser, and its press releases came back without their text.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full GTCR PE page →
Francisco Partners is a technology investor making majority and minority investments. In its own words: “With more than $75 billion of capital raised, we are one of the largest and most active technology-focused private equity firms in the world with a platform that spans private equity and credit.” On July 23, 2026 it announced “the closing of $21 billion in capital commitments across its Francisco Partners VIII, L.P. flagship fund and Francisco Partners Agility IV, L.P., its middle-market fund”. Capital raised is a cumulative figure and not assets under management. The firm has no job board of its own: its recruitment page says “To inquire about or apply for positions with our team. Email Us”, and careers.franciscopartners.com lists portfolio-company jobs.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Francisco Partners PE page →
“Founded in 1989, Providence was a pioneer of sector-focused private equity investing in North America.” It describes itself as “a leading sector-focused private equity firm, with an enduring franchise in the media, communications, education and technology industries across North America and Europe”. Its site gives “$33B aggregate private equity capital commitments” as of December 2025. On November 11, 2026 its board listed three postings: a fund accounting manager in Providence, an AI solutions architect in Boston and an AI intern in London.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Providence Equity Partners PE page →
TA is a firm founded in 1968 that invests in profitable growth companies in technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services, through both minority and control deals. Its history page records “$65 billion in capital raised” by 2023, which is a cumulative figure and not assets under management. Its careers page lists no openings and names talent contacts by email, one of them for the Associate Program. Its careers.ta.com site lists portfolio-company jobs, not jobs at TA.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full TA Associates PE page →
Summit Partners is a growth equity firm with a four-decade history that has invested in more than 550 companies in technology, healthcare and other growth sectors; its home page gives $44B+ of assets under management. Associate is the entry title on its investment team, and the role is built on sourcing: its responsibilities open with “Driving research, idea generation, and thematic sourcing” and “Engaging with entrepreneurs and executives of privately held companies to explore and develop new investment ideas”.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Summit Partners PE page →
Ardian calls itself “a world-leading European private equity firm” and says: “We manage or advise more than $200bn of assets”. Its private equity business covers secondaries and primaries, co-investment, buyout, expansion and growth, and it also invests in real assets and credit. Its buyout team invests “primarily in Europe but also in North America”, and a separate North America Fund buys industrial and business services companies in the lower middle market. On November 11, 2026 its board listed 66 postings, 9 of them in the United States: seven internships on investing teams, a data science internship and a fund services director. None was a full-time analyst or associate investing role, and none was in buyout.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Ardian PE page →
TCV is a growth equity firm investing in technology companies, with equity checks of $10 million to $500 million and 350+ technology investments over a 30+ year history. Its site reports $23 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2026. The site has no careers page and we found no job board.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full TCV PE page →
Audax operates “through three business lines: Audax Private Equity, Audax Private Debt, and Audax Strategic Capital”, and it is ranked here on the first. Audax Private Equity describes itself as “A strategic equity partner in the middle market”; its own site gives it “$20.1B AUM (as of July ’26)” and a $5.25B flagship Fund VII. It had no investing role posted on November 11, 2026. The one investing role on the firm’s board was in the credit arm, Audax Private Debt, in New York.
Salary band, hiring status & why it ranks here — see the full Audax Group PE page →
These firms are credit managers first, so they are not ranked against the buyout and growth equity firms above. They are listed in alphabetical order, with what each one posts.
Blue Owl invests, in its own words, “across three multi-strategy platforms: Credit, Real Assets and GP Strategic Capital”, with “$330 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2026”. The junior investing roles it had posted on November 11, 2026 were in Alternative Credit (credit secondaries and asset-based finance) in New York and in Technology Growth Investing in Menlo Park. No core direct lending analyst or associate role was live.
Salary band, hiring status & why it is not ranked — see the full Blue Owl PE page →
Golub Capital is a direct lender to private equity-backed middle market companies whose stated mission is “to be best in sponsor finance”; its home page gives $95+ billion of capital under management. Its lending team provides senior, one-stop and second lien loans with hold positions of up to $700 million. The work is underwriting: the posting lists “New Deals (>85% of time on an annual basis)”, “Preparing investment and downside case financial models” and “Preparing historical and projected covenant models”.
Salary band, hiring status & why it is not ranked — see the full Golub Capital PE page →
HPS is an alternative credit manager covering corporate private credit, asset-based finance and liquid credit. Its one live posting says “BlackRock and HPS have formed a new private financing solutions business unit” with “approximately $370 billion in client assets, including $205 billion of private credit assets”. HPS’s own site gives two figures for its assets: $201 billion on the home page and “more than $157 billion” on the open-roles page. Investing roles may now be listed on BlackRock’s careers site, which we did not check.
Salary band, hiring status & why it is not ranked — see the full HPS Investment Partners PE page →
Oaktree’s postings describe it as “a premier credit manager emphasizing an opportunistic, value-oriented, and risk-controlled approach to investing across credit, equity, and real estate” and as part of “Brookfield’s $416B credit platform”. We did not find Oaktree’s own assets under management on the pages we read. On November 11, 2026 its board listed 54 postings; the junior titles were in capital markets, investor relations, risk and operations, not on an investment team.
Sixth Street is a global investment firm that invests across credit, growth and other strategies. Its home page counts 750+ team members, 300+ investment professionals and $140 billion+ of assets under management, which its careers page dates to June 30, 2026. The one investing role it had posted on November 11, 2026 was Asset Based Finance Platform Associate, which the posting describes as “a full-time Investing Associate role based in New York”. That is asset-based finance, not corporate direct lending.
Salary band, hiring status & why it is not ranked — see the full Sixth Street PE page →
The comp landscape
One posted base per firm, for the single junior investing role named under its bar: a new-graduate analyst at Warburg Pincus, associates and other experienced hires elsewhere. At Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global Management, Carlyle, Ares Management and Audax Group the figure is for the credit arm, because none of them posts pay for a junior private equity role, and at Bain Capital and Brookfield it is for another business line. The bars are not like for like, so read each with its label. Bonus and carried interest are not posted by any firm. Full breakdown in the PE salary guide.
Credit arm: Associate base (2–4 years)
Energy arm: Associate base (2–4 years)
Direct lending associate base (1 to 3 years)
Asset-based finance associate base (1–4 years)
Credit arm: Associate/Analyst base (3+ years)
Credit arm: Direct lending associate base (1.5+ years)
Private equity associate base (experience not stated)
Credit secondaries Analyst / Associate base (1–3+ years)
Life Sciences associate base (2–5 years)
Pre-MBA associate base (most have two to three years)
Credit arm: Associate base (2+ years)
Credit arm: 2-Year Associate base (2 to 3 years)
Special Situations: Associate base (2 years)
Pre-MBA associate base (2+ years preferred)
Credit arm: Private debt associate base (2–4 years)
Undergraduate analyst base (new graduate)
TPG, EQT, Hellman & Friedman, Thoma Bravo, Permira, Apax, Silver Lake, Hg, Advent International, Clayton Dubilier & Rice, CVC, Leonard Green & Partners, Insight Partners, GTCR, Francisco Partners, Providence Equity Partners, TA Associates, Ardian, TCV, HPS Investment Partners, Oaktree Capital Management have no posted base for a junior investing role and are not charted. Each bar is one role at one firm, named beneath it. The levels differ, so the bars are not like for like.
How private equity firms hire analysts and associates
This list ranks buyout and growth equity firms. Buyout firms, which are what most people mean by private equity, buy control of companies. Growth equity firms invest in companies that are already growing, often for a minority stake. Private credit firms lend to companies, often ones that buyout firms own; 5 credit managers are listed here without a rank, because a credit manager is not like for like with a private equity firm. Many of the largest ranked firms run a credit arm as well, and each firm page says which track we list it under and why. Some ranked firms do most of their posted hiring outside the United States, and this list covers US junior roles only.
There are two junior seats. Analysts are hired straight from undergraduate, which we could verify at 5 firms: KKR, Warburg Pincus, Vista Equity Partners, Insight Partners and Partners Group. Associates are hired after one to three years somewhere else, most often an investment bank; nearly every associate posting we read says so in its experience line. The largest firms have recruited associates out of banks’ analyst classes about two years before the job starts: in June 2025 Apollo and General Atlantic each said they would not interview or extend offers that year for their associate classes of 2027, in statements quoted by Banking Dive on June 12, 2025.
What you can verify differs sharply by track. In private credit, 10 firms post a junior role with a base. In buyout, 2 do: Vista Equity Partners and Partners Group. And 15 firms post no roles of any kind.
Most associates come out of investment banking analyst programs, so preparation starts there, with the investment banking interview course and how to answer “Why investment banking?”.
How we rank
The order ranks 32 buyout and growth equity firms. Positions 1 to 30 follow a review of the ranking by someone with industry knowledge. The reviewer called the result more accurate but still subjective, and so do we: it is a judgement about what each name is worth at the start of an investing career, not a formula and not a survey. The last 2 ranked firms were not part of the review and follow it. Credit managers are listed but not ranked: credit is a different business with a different junior job, so the 5 on this page sit in their own group, in alphabetical order. We do not use the Index score the other lists are ranked by, because that score leans on posted pay and open roles, and only 13 of the 32 ranked firms post a base for any junior investing role; at 6 of those it is for the credit arm, not for private equity. An index would rank firms on who posts, not on where you would want to work. Every firm page explains its placement.
Positions 1 to 30 follow the order given by a reviewer with industry knowledge. It is one informed view of how these names stand with people starting an investing career, and it is opinion. A diversified firm is ranked on its private equity business.
Assets under management or capital raised, as each firm states it on its own site or postings, with the date where the firm gives one. It is on every firm page as context and does not set the order: several firms rank above others that state larger figures. Where we could not read a figure at the source, the firm’s page says so.
Shown wherever a firm posts them, and they do not move the order: 19 of the 32 ranked firms post no junior base, the largest post none for private equity, and 15 post no roles at all.
Blue Owl, Golub Capital, HPS Investment Partners, Oaktree Capital Management and Sixth Street are credit managers first, not private equity firms. They keep their pages, and their posted pay where they post any, in a group of their own, and are not ranked against buyout and growth equity firms.
The three tiers are ours, not the reviewer’s. The first ends where the reviewed order leaves the global multi-strategy managers, and the third begins where it turns to the private equity arms of diversified managers and to smaller or more specialised firms. TCV and Audax were not in the review and are placed after the firms that were. Ares, Audax, Brookfield and Partners Group are ranked on their private equity businesses; where the pay a firm posts is from another arm, its page says which. Some firms here do most of their posted hiring outside the United States (Ardian, EQT and Partners Group, on what their boards show). This list covers US junior roles only, and says so where a firm posts none. We also checked JMI Equity, PSG, Antares Capital and Monroe Capital and left them out, because none had a junior investing role posted. Great Hill Partners, New Mountain Capital, Genstar, Stone Point, Churchill, Oak Hill Advisors and Spectrum Equity were not looked at closely enough to rank. Total compensation is not shown for any firm: no firm posts a bonus or carried interest figure, and we do not use survey, forum or salary-site numbers.
Every pay figure on this list is a base salary quoted from the firm’s own posting, for the role named with it; figures are US-market. No bonus, carried interest, survey or salary-site figure is used. Hiring status reflects each company’s careers page as of November 11, 2026. Spotted something outdated? Email [email protected].
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Frequently asked questions
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There is no private equity course yet. Most associates on this list are hired out of banking, so start with the accounting, valuation, DCF and LBO technicals the investment banking course covers.
