Private equity funds add key manpower for future growth
Mumbai: It was supposed to be a washout year. With the economy coming to a standstill with a raging pandemic and the resultant lockdown, businesses suffered the most. But hiring in private equity funds across stages paints a different picture — one that is of green shoots and optimism.
According to data exclusively put together for ET by staffing firm Native (erstwhile VitoAltor), there were about 220 hires in global and domestic private equity and venture capital funds in India in the past one year, the highest at least in five years.
There were 165 moves in 2019, and just over a hundred each in the previous two years.
The pandemic notwithstanding, PE funds had a busy time deal-making and hired a lot of talent to beef up their senior management teams. Sequoia Capital, Carlyle, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Kedaara Capital, Bain Capital, KKR, Lightspeed Ventures Partners, NIIF and Everstone, among others, hired across levels.
“The number of private equity and venture capital moves was among the highest last year despite the pandemic and the hit to businesses. In fact, it provided a conducive environment for funds as uncertain times and reasonable valuations are the best times for deal making, thus in turn prompting funds to strengthen their teams by hiring a lot of talent across leadership and execution support,” said Sonali Puri, partner, private equity practice, at Native.
The pandemic notwithstanding, PE funds had a busy time deal-making and hired a lot of talent to beef up their senior management teams. Sequoia Capital, Carlyle, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Kedaara Capital, Bain Capital, KKR, Lightspeed Ventures Partners, NIIF and Everstone, among others, hired across levels.
“The number of private equity and venture capital moves was among the highest last year despite the pandemic and the hit to businesses. In fact, it provided a conducive environment for funds as uncertain times and reasonable valuations are the best times for deal making, thus in turn prompting funds to strengthen their teams by hiring a lot of talent across leadership and execution support,” said Sonali Puri, partner, private equity practice, at Native.
Native has successfully closed more than 50 searches across PE, VC and portfolio hiring over the last one year. It is currently running over 15 CXO searches across various marquee fund portfolios.
Funds hired also for their portfolio companies in order to drive growth. Hiring within the PE portfolio has been most active in sectors such as renewables, diagnostics, consumer and consumer tech, and digital technology.
“Hiring the right talent is crucial to the success of NIIF. Given the scale that NIIF operates at, we expect to continue our recruitment efforts for key positions. In FY21, we have already hired over 20 employees of which three are senior-level hires,” said managing director Sujay Bose.
“With the closure of the NIIF Master Fund at $2.34 billion, we are in an active investment mode and have made several investments in roads, renewables and logistics in the last eight months. Our fund of funds and Strategic Opportunities Fund focused on the private equity sector in India continue to invest even as we fundraise, and we expect to further strengthen our team,” Bose said.
These funds remain confident about the fundamental strength and growth trajectory of India and continue to deploy long-term patient capital across several sectors. Despite the pandemic, private equity investments in India more than doubled to $33.8 billion in 2020, with the number of deals jumping to 791 from 665 in 2019, according to data collated by Refinitiv.
“India is a priority market in Antler’s objective to create a world-changing impact. It is a hotbed of innovation and we are thrilled to double down on the market," said Magnus Grimeland, founder of Antler, an early-stage VC and PE fund that has in the last one year set on to build out a team in India, hiring across levels, including two India heads.
Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC hired more than half a dozen people as it is set to launch an India-dedicated public market fund of around $3 billion. “The fund hired across levels for this new fund and we will see this hiring activity continue well into 2021,” said a person with knowledge of its plans.
According to Native data, 51% of the churn happened within global funds with almost 31% hires in growth funds. The data showed a 45% increase in hiring activity at the mid-level.
PE Funds Step Up Hiring
- 220 moves in PE in 2020 vs 165 in 2019, and just over a hundred each in 2018 and 2017
- Funds that hired In Last One Year: Sequoia Capital, Carlyle, Multiples Alternate Asset Management, Kedaara Capital, Bain Capital, KKR, Lightspeed Ventures Partners, NIIF, Everstone (Data source: Native)
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