What would a typical profile be for a Mid-Level Investor Relations Professional in the PE space?

Where are PE firms hiring mid-level IR professionals from?

‍

Of the 230 or so candidates in these roles (surveyed from US middle market PE/Investment firms) most of the candidates are coming from previous IR roles or have prior IR experience. However that is not always the case, and many mid-level IR professionals are coming from non IR backgrounds.

‍

Many firms are adding mid-level resources to support senior IR professionals, however we have also seen examples of mid-level level talent being the only dedicated talent to the IR function and reporting to Partners and/or senior members of the investment team. In addition, a good amount of mid-level IR talent has been promoted and moved up the firm internally after being hired in a more junior role. Responsibilities can cover both the project management side of IR mixed in with some capital formation/fundraising responsibility as well.

‍

First on the backgrounds. We identified about 230 existing mid-level IR candidates at PE/investment firms across the country. These candidates have a range of titles, but generally are titled as Senior Associate or VP.

By far the largest portion, were professionals coming from an IR position or had previous IR experience. Almost 75% of all mid level IR professionals surveyed fell into this category.

The other 25% of IR professionals come from a mix of many other backgrounds. The largest portion of these include marketing and communication profiles, which would make sense due to the overlap of responsibilities within IR. Next would be investing profiles, which again makes a lot of sense due to the constant interaction between deal team and IR members, as well as the investment knowledge that IR professionals need to most effectively due their job.

‍

The rest fall into the banking, operations and BD/sales spaces with a few coming from finance, project management and consulting.

‍

What to take away from here? Major takeaways include, once you hit the mid-level for IR professionals, prior IR experience or exposure to the IR function, would be at the top of many firms lists for profiles. As responsibility increases, especially in more client facing dynamics, the more IR experience the candidate, the easier that transition will be.

‍

However, many firms have different priorities, and will target profiles for other backgrounds, which they feel could be more transferrable to their current IR needs. In addition, many firms will specialize their IR talent to focus on one main IR facet such as marketing, client services or capital formation.

‍

Bottom line is each firm is different in how they go about staffing and operating their IR functions, and there are many different pathways to finding strong talent.

‍

For those in IR roles or firms aiming to expand their IR teams, we're always open to conversations and collaborations. Reach out anytime!

‍