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collage of Lauren and her peers

How Can a Booth MBA Help in Private Equity?

Lauren St. Clair, co-chair of the Private Equity Group, provides her perspective on how an MBA from Booth can advance your career in private equity.

In this blog, second-year Full-Time MBA student, Lauren St. Clair provides insights around what it’s like pursuing private equity at Chicago Booth. In doing so, she explains how the Private Equity Group serves as a valuable professional tool for students looking to advance their careers in the fast-growing PE field.

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Lauren grew up in Carmel, Indiana, and attended Miami University in Ohio for undergrad, where she completed a double major in Finance and Accounting with a Spanish minor. After graduation, Lauren spent five years in investment banking followed by two years in private equity prior to business school.

Getting her MBA was always something she considered. Lauren came to Chicago Booth wanting to learn everything operationally about running a business in order to better understand value creation at the portfolio level. Beyond classroom learning, Lauren values the MBA for the network and breadth of experiences it provides, such as taking on leadership positions, traveling to different parts of the world, and meeting new people. Private equity is a very people-oriented industry, requiring strong interpersonal skills, active engagement with senior management teams, and a collaborative approach to portfolio operations—all skills which can be refined with an MBA.

Fun Fact about Lauren: Lauren traveled to five continents with Boothies last year: Spring break in Colombia, leading a Random Walk in Thailand, Booth Ski Club trip to Whistler, Oktoberfest with classmates in Germany, and Sydney for New Years with her Booth bestie from Australia!

Why did you choose Chicago Booth to further pursue your interest in Private Equity? Any advice for prospective students looking to do the same?

Booth has incredible brand recognition globally and in the industry, not only given its alumni presence but also academically—notably Professors McGowan and Kaplan who are extremely knowledgeable, well-connected, and willing to help students. The pay-it-forward culture at Chicago Booth has made the alumni network invaluable. Polsky offers a mentorship program, matching you with a senior leader or partner in PE to serve as a sounding board and offer guidance on career planning. I also sourced my Lab internship by networking with recent graduates in roles I aspired to be in. Being in the same city as where I intend to pursue a career was important to me for this reason and one of the driving factors behind my decision to come to Booth. My advice generally is to leverage the entirety of the Booth network—I’ve found my classmates equally resourceful in navigating the recruiting landscape and understanding the alternatives available when it comes to post-MBA investing roles.

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What concentrations are you pursuing at Booth? Furthermore, what courses and other resources have you found most beneficial in helping you reach your career goals?

By graduation, I will have completed concentrations in accounting, finance, and entrepreneurship (though you’ll know from above, that was not the plan!). Some of my favorite courses include Private Equity Transactions: Issues & Documentation (abbreviated UChicago Law School course taught by a former Kirkland & Ellis Partner), Internal Information for Strategic Decisions, Accounting for Entrepreneurs: From Start-up to IPO, and Private Equity Lab with Professor McGowan.

PE Lab was most beneficial as it relates to my career considering it served as a launchpad for full-time recruiting. Through Lab, I was able to complete an in-quarter internship with a firm for class credit. Generally, it’s a practical low-stakes way to familiarize yourself with the industry if it’s a path you’re considering post-MBA. Even having previously worked in PE, it was a great experience, allowing me to sample investing up-market from my last firm and in a new sector. The nature of PE given the lifecycle of evaluating deals is difficult part-time, and especially short-term, so I took the opportunity during Lab to extend my internship through spring and ultimately full-time in summer. This allowed me to be staffed on more deals and complete more in-depth projects with the team than I otherwise would have had time for, including attending and presenting on an investment theme at the firm’s offsite.

Tell us more about the Private Equity Group. What made you decide to join?

The Private Equity Group has been a great resource for me while at Booth. Knowing I wanted to return to PE after business school, I prioritized my involvement and leadership roles in the group early on.

From a programming perspective, the club hosts Lunch and Learns for technical interviews and case studies, modeling workshops in partnership with Elevate and Wall Street Prep, and the ability to join “recruiting families” (mix of first- and second-years targeting similar fund sizes, geographies, sectors, etc.), to highlight a few initiatives.

We also work with the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation to host the Chicago Booth Private Equity Conference each year, featuring several market and industry panel discussions and keynote speakers. Last year, we welcomed Pete Stavros (KKR), for which a portion of his presentation was featured on 60 Minutes! There’s also an opportunity to participate in case competitions, judged by investment team Partners and former Booth alumni, with the chance to advance to the Oxford Global PE Challenge.

Lastly, the club does a lot to assist in networking and furthering alumni engagement. We host three “treks” per year—Chicago, New York, and San Francisco—meeting with 8-10 PE firms in each city to learn more about their investment strategies and mandates. Informally, we aim to host happy hours and socials throughout the year across both Booth’s Full-Time MBA and Part-Time MBA programs, as well as with alumni and Chicago-area PE professionals.

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What PE Group event have you found most advantageous in helping you grow your network and come closer to reaching your career goals?

The PE Treks have been really worthwhile. As a co-chair this year, I led our Chicago Trek, where we met with firms such as Vistria, Water Street, Vista Equity, and Arbor, to name a few. It’s a great way to go deeper into the firm’s strategy as well as establish more meaningful connections with some of the team. We’ve expanded sessions to include portfolio resource groups and operationally-focused firms, such as GTCR and Shore Capital, for more insight into PE Operations as a pathway as well.

What would you like prospective students to know about Booth’s PE Group?

Regardless of whether or not you have prior relevant investing experience, Chicago Booth’s PE Group can be a value-add to your MBA if recruiting for the industry. Both as co-chairs and as a student group, we represent career “advancers” and “pivoters.” PE is the type of industry where everyone’s experience is unique and valuable given the breadth of PE firms in the market, ranging from family office or independent sponsor to middle market or mega-fund. It is a professional club, though beyond the technicals, a great way to generally get to know more classmates.

We hope Lauren sharing her first-hand experience pursuing private equity at Chicago Booth gave you an idea of some practical ways Booth allows students to hone their intended industry of focus. For more information on Booth’s curriculum, student experience, upcoming admissions events, and more we encourage you to sign up for our newsletters.

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