Private Equity Investment Associate

The Company:

Mesirow is an independent, employee-owned financial services firm founded in 1937. Headquartered in Chicago, with offices around the world, Mesirow serves clients through capabilities spanning Global Investment Management, Capital Markets and Investment Banking, and Advisory Services. We are proud that our intentional culture results in strong employee engagement, entrepreneurship and empowerment, with ongoing opportunities for volunteerism and advancement. Mesirow was recently named one of the Best Places to Work in Chicago by Crain’s Chicago Business and one of the Top 100 RIA firms by Barron’s. At Mesirow, we invest in what matters: our clients, our communities, and our culture.

Mesirow Private Equity, founded in 1982, provides investors with access to leading Private Equity fund managers, co-investment opportunities and secondary purchases. Mesirow Private Equity develops fund-of-funds portfolios comprised of leading Private Equity managers in the U.S. and Europe. These portfolios are well-diversified to include buyout, growth equity, venture capital and special situations managers. Mesirow Private Equity also constructs co-investment portfolios by proactively sourcing opportunities to participate in buyout and growth equity financings alongside other leading Private Equity managers. Secondary portfolios managed by the Firm include both GP-led secondaries and traditional secondary purchases of LP interests. These portfolios provide balanced exposure to companies diversified by stage of development and industry sector.

The Opportunity:

Mesirow Private Equity is seeking a Pre-MBA Investment Associate to join its Chicago-based team. This person will join a highly-collaborative, highly-stable team that is responsible for sourcing, evaluating and monitoring the firm’s Private Equity Investments. The role presents the opportunity to work with senior members of the investment team during screening, due diligence and selection of Private Equity Investments. In addition to its flagship fund-of-funds strategy, Mesirow Private Equity constructs focused portfolios of Private Equity co-investments and secondaries.

The anticipated start date for the position is Spring or Summer 2024.

Responsibilities:

• Perform screening, due diligence, selection and monitoring of Private Equity Investments, including partnerships, co-investments and secondaries
• Perform quantitative and qualitative analysis used to support the underwriting of potential investment opportunities
• Present due diligence findings to the Investment Committee and make investment recommendations
• Collaborate with members of the business development, client service and accounting teams to prepare presentations, pitches, responses to client requests, etc.

Requirements:

• Ideally two years of work experience in investment banking, related financial services or consulting
• Undergraduate degree with superior academic record
• Comprehensive working-knowledge of Excel, PowerPoint, Word, etc.
• Strong quantitative skills with prior work experience and/or coursework in financial analysis, valuation and accounting
• Ability to effectively communicate, both verbally and in writing, with peers, senior team members and clients
• Strong work ethic with ability to work independently and self-motivate
• Strong attention to detail; accurate
• Proactive and innovative in reaching solutions and answering questions
• Responsive to client needs and timing requirements

EOE