Firm Strategy

Running a private equity (PE) firm has never been more demanding: attractive investment opportunities are in short supply, competition for deals is fierce and fundraising remains crowded and competitive. At the same time, PE firms need to grow in order to attract and retain top talent. As the leading partner to the private equity industry, Bain helps PE firms stand apart from their peers by working with them to develop tailored strategies for continued excellence.

Our private equity consulting experts and teams help PE firms develop strategies that combine a relentless focus on being the very best in particular sectors, regions or types of deals with strengthened and deepened capabilities that make them distinctive.

What We Do

We work with our clients to define their target investment areas and develop their angle of attack:

Define the "sweet spot:" We help private equity firms draw a tight ring around the investment areas where they will hunt for the vast majority of their deals, leading to more efficient deal sourcing and sharpened due diligence. The "sweet spot" for a particular PE firm may lie along any one of several dimensions—from industry sector or deal size, to the degree of control the firm seeks in the deals it does, to whether to focus primarily on growth opportunities, turnarounds or cyclical plays.
Develop the angle of attack: Successful firms not only draw a map around the territory where they will focus, they also develop an angle that will improve their odds for success. The angle needs to be grounded in a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed in the sweet spot and must be consistent with what the firm has been good at historically.

In our experience supporting private equity firms, a robust firm strategy combines five key elements:

Ambition: An inspiring full potential ambition that targets sustained wealth creation for investors and partners.
Where to play: Clear choices on investment areas to target.
How to win: Clear choices on differentiated capabilities to leverage.
Fundraising capabilities and support services: Robust capabilities and processes that enable execution of the strategy.
Talent, organization and culture: High-performance organization aligned to support the strategy.

Our approach is continuously informed by our engagements with both leading private equity firms and institutional investors globally. We also bring to bear our own unparalleled research and insights on the private equity industry.

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