Life After Private Equity: Should You Stay, Leave or Change Direction?

There comes a point in some private equity careers when even highly successful professionals begin questioning whether they want to continue.

For some, it happens after a prolonged period without closing a deal. They have spent months, sometimes years, pursuing opportunities, only to watch them fall through at the final stage.

For others, it happens when everything appears to be going well. They have become a partner, achieved financial success and built a reputation in the industry, yet the work no longer excites them as it once did.

Both may arrive at the same conclusion: Perhaps it is time to leave private equity.

But I think there is a more important question to ask first: What exactly is making you want to leave?

There is an enormous difference between being exhausted, losing confidence after a difficult period, becoming bored with your responsibilities and genuinely no longer wanting the career you have spent years building. Understanding that difference is often the most important part of deciding what comes next.

The reality of working in private equity

From the outside, private equity can look like one of the most attractive careers in finance. The compensation is substantial, the work is intellectually challenging and the potential financial upside through carried interest can be extraordinary. There is also considerable prestige attached to working at a successful firm.

But the reality is more complicated. Private equity is a long game. It is exceptionally competitive not only to enter the industry, but to remain successful within it.

Having capital available to invest does not mean finding attractive opportunities is easy. You need to identify businesses with genuine upside potential, develop conviction around an investment thesis, compete against other buyers, negotiate a transaction and ultimately help create enough value to deliver an attractive return to investors.

And you need to do this consistently, often with lean teams and considerable internal and external scrutiny.

Unlike investment banking, where professionals primarily advise clients and execute transactions, private equity involves making investment decisions with investors' capital and remaining exposed to the consequences over many years.

You can spend months pursuing a deal, investing enormous amounts of time, energy and conviction, only to lose it just before completion.

Having spent much of my earlier life competing as a professional tennis player, I often compare this to preparing for the Olympics. Imagine training for years, doing everything possible to put yourself in a position to compete, and then getting injured a week before the event.

The disappointment is not simply about losing. It is about everything you invested in getting there, and the fact that you may never have the opportunity to discover what the outcome could have been.

You can do an enormous amount of work, make very good decisions and still have very little to show for it in the short term.

When this happens repeatedly, even exceptionally capable professionals can begin questioning themselves.

When you have not closed a deal: are you failing, or are you closer than you think?

Imagine a senior private equity professional who has not completed a new investment for two years. They are exhausted. Their confidence has suffered. They see colleagues and competitors closing transactions while their own opportunities repeatedly fall through.

They begin wondering whether they are still good enough. Perhaps they should move to another fund. Perhaps they should leave investing altogether.

But before accepting that conclusion, I would want to establish the facts.

• How many serious opportunities have they pursued?
• How many came close to completion?
• Why did those transactions fall through?
• How strategic and targeted was their approach?
• Were they consistently competing for the right opportunities, or working hard without a sufficiently clear plan?

These questions matter because there is a fundamental difference between giving something your best effort and not succeeding, and never having given yourself a proper chance to succeed.

What professional sport taught me about performance

Consider two athletes who tell me they have worked incredibly hard but have not managed to win.

The first has trained consistently, followed a carefully designed programme, taken care of their physical preparation and competed against the best. They have entered ten competitions, finishing second or third on several occasions.

The second has also trained, but without a particularly clear strategy. They have changed coaches repeatedly, struggled with consistency, become distracted and competed only once or twice.

Both athletes may feel equally disappointed. Both may believe they have tried their hardest. But I would approach their situations very differently.

The first may already be performing at an exceptionally high level. They may need to make relatively small adjustments, rebuild confidence and find the resilience to keep going.

The second may need to recognise that they have not yet done the groundwork necessary to give themselves a genuine chance of winning.

The same principle applies in private equity. At this level, inches matter. It is not simply about how hard you work. It is about how thoughtfully, strategically and intentionally you work.

Of course, luck plays a part. Market conditions change, sellers change their minds, investment committees disagree and competitors sometimes win for reasons beyond your control.

But repeatedly losing transactions can also reveal weaknesses in your approach. Perhaps your origination strategy needs to change. Perhaps you are pursuing opportunities where you do not have a meaningful competitive advantage. Perhaps your investment thesis is not sufficiently differentiated.

Not closing deals does not automatically mean you are not good enough. But working hard does not automatically mean you have given yourself the best possible chance to succeed.

Both conclusions deserve to be challenged. And sometimes, after examining the evidence, you may discover that you are much closer than you think.

The hidden pressure of appearing successful

One of the more difficult aspects of private equity is the difference between how a career looks from the outside and how it feels on the inside.

To friends, family and people outside finance, a senior private equity professional may appear to have made it. They have an impressive title, substantial earning potential and a prestigious professional identity.

But internally, the reality may be very different. They may have gone years without completing a deal. Their pipeline may be under scrutiny. They may be dealing with difficult internal politics or questioning whether they are still capable of performing at the level expected of them.

And yet there can be an unspoken expectation to maintain the appearance that everything is going well.

It is difficult to admit that you are struggling when everyone around you assumes you are exceptionally successful. It is also difficult to consider leaving a career that other people would do almost anything to enter.

Over time, the prestige associated with private equity can become intertwined with your identity. The question stops being simply, Do I enjoy this work? It becomes, Who am I if I am no longer doing it?

Sometimes the fear of losing status influences a career decision more than someone initially recognises. This is also part of the broader question of what comes after success when the identity you have built no longer feels like enough.

Have you lost your ambition, or have you simply outgrown your role?

Not everyone questioning their future in private equity is struggling. Sometimes the person considering leaving is performing exceptionally well. They have reached partner level, achieved financial success and built an impressive career.

But they tell me something has changed: I have lost the hunger.

I would not automatically interpret that as a sign they should leave. First, I would want to understand whether they have had a genuine opportunity to step away from the intensity of their work and evaluate their situation with a clear mind.

When you have spent 10 or 15 years moving from one transaction, investment committee meeting or fundraising cycle to the next, it can become difficult to distinguish between what you genuinely want and what you have simply become accustomed to doing.

Sometimes, taking a meaningful break can help provide perspective. Not because a holiday automatically solves career dissatisfaction, but because stepping away from the daily demands can help you understand what you actually miss. If prolonged exhaustion is part of the picture, I explore this separately in my guide to burnout in private equity.

Do you miss finding the next investment? The competition? The intellectual stimulation? Working with management teams? Or do you primarily miss the status, structure and familiarity of your role?

I would also want to understand which parts of the job still give you energy and which no longer do.

Perhaps you love identifying investment opportunities but have become frustrated by the internal management responsibilities that now dominate your time. Perhaps you enjoy working with portfolio companies but have lost interest in constant deal origination. Perhaps you want to develop younger investment professionals or build a new investment strategy.

If that is the case, the answer may not be to leave private equity. It may be to change your role.

Could you delegate certain responsibilities? Take on a different leadership position? Become more involved in portfolio strategy? Build a new business plan for your career within the firm?

Before deciding that you have lost your passion for private equity, ask whether you have simply lost your passion for the particular version of the job you are currently doing.

And if, after exploring those possibilities, you realise that your ambitions genuinely have changed, that is equally valuable clarity. The objective is not to persuade yourself to stay. It is to understand what you actually want.

The carried interest dilemma: when leaving becomes a financial decision

Any serious conversation about leaving private equity must acknowledge the financial implications.

For many senior professionals, carried interest represents a substantial part of their potential long-term compensation. But the rewards are not immediate or guaranteed. Carry may take many years to produce meaningful distributions, depending on the fund's performance, investment realisations and the terms of the arrangement.

Leaving a firm can affect vesting, future distributions and other economic rights. The precise treatment depends on the relevant fund documents, awards and leaver provisions. Vested interests do not necessarily mean that cash has already been distributed.

That creates a difficult decision. You may have spent years building your position within a fund, only to find yourself questioning whether you want to continue just as the potential financial rewards are becoming meaningful.

Moving to another fund can create a different challenge. You may need to rebuild relationships, establish credibility and begin a new cycle of potential carry participation.

But I think it is important to separate two questions: What is the actual financial cost of leaving? And is staying the right decision for your life and career?

The first requires careful analysis of your contractual arrangements, financial position and available alternatives, with appropriate legal, tax and financial advice. UK tax rules concerning carried interest have also changed, making individual advice particularly important.

The second requires a broader assessment of your priorities, ambitions and willingness to continue making the sacrifices the career demands.

Sometimes staying is absolutely the right decision. But sometimes the possibility of a future payout becomes a reason to postpone a decision someone has already been avoiding for years.

Money should be taken seriously. It simply should not be allowed to answer every other question on your behalf.

What can you do after private equity?

There are several potential career paths after private equity, but none should be assumed to offer an automatically easier or more fulfilling life.

Move to another private equity firm

A different fund may offer a stronger investment strategy, better cultural fit, more attractive economics or greater responsibility. But if the underlying problem is that you no longer enjoy investing, changing firms may simply recreate the same dissatisfaction in a different environment.

Move into an operating role

Some private equity professionals move into senior leadership positions within portfolio companies or other businesses. This can appeal to those who want to become more directly involved in building a company rather than evaluating and investing in one. However, being a successful investor does not automatically make someone a successful operator.

Join a family office or pursue independent investing

These options can offer greater autonomy and the opportunity to focus on a different investment mandate. But they may also involve less institutional support, different financial arrangements and greater personal responsibility for sourcing and executing opportunities.

Build a portfolio career

Board positions, advisory work and selective investment activity may provide variety and flexibility for experienced professionals. But building a sustainable portfolio career takes time, relationships and a clear understanding of the value you can offer outside a large institution.

Start a business or pursue something different

For some, the next chapter has little to do with private equity. They may want to build a business, pursue a different professional interest or create more space for their personal lives. It is important to be clear about what you are moving towards, rather than simply focusing on what you are trying to escape.

Take a career break

Sometimes the most useful next step is not another job but creating enough space to think. However, taking time away at a senior level can affect professional momentum, relationships and future opportunities. Re-entering private equity may be difficult, particularly when suitable positions are limited. A break should be considered thoughtfully, with a realistic understanding of the implications.

Before leaving private equity, ask yourself these five questions

When someone is exhausted, frustrated or disappointed, it is easy to interpret current feelings as evidence that something fundamental needs to change. But feelings, while important, do not always tell the complete story.

1. What has actually happened?
   Separate facts from interpretations. What have you achieved? What has not worked? Which setbacks were within your control, and which were not?
2. Have you genuinely given yourself the best possible chance to succeed?
   Have you been strategic, consistent and intentional? Or could a different approach materially improve your situation?
3. Are you exhausted, or do you no longer want the outcome?
   These can feel very similar. Someone who is depleted may struggle to feel motivated by work they would otherwise enjoy. Persistent or severe exhaustion may also warrant medical or mental health support.
4. If you could change your current role, would you still want to leave?
   Which responsibilities would you keep? Which would you delegate? What new challenges would make the work more interesting?
5. What are you actually moving towards?
   What would you like your professional and personal life to look like in five years? What are you prepared to give up? What would make the next chapter worthwhile?

Sometimes the right decision is to stay. And sometimes it is to leave.

There is a tendency to interpret career dissatisfaction as a sign that something needs to end. But sometimes the right decision is to stay and approach things differently.

You may need a better strategy, more effective boundaries, a different set of responsibilities or simply a clearer perspective on your performance. You may need to stop treating every unsuccessful deal as a personal failure.

Staying does not have to mean accepting the status quo. It can be a deliberate decision to make changes and give yourself a better opportunity to succeed.

There are also times when, after careful reflection, it becomes clear that you no longer want what the career requires. Perhaps your priorities have changed. Perhaps the sacrifices no longer feel worthwhile. Perhaps you have achieved what you originally set out to achieve and want a different kind of challenge.

You do not have to prove that private equity is a bad career to justify leaving it. You can be exceptionally good at something and still decide that you no longer want to dedicate the next decade of your life to it.

You can be successful without being fulfilled. And you can experience serious setbacks in a career you still deeply value.

The challenge is knowing which situation you are in.

How coaching can help you decide what comes next

When I work with senior finance professionals questioning their future, my role is not to tell them whether they should stay or leave. It is to help them examine their situation as objectively as possible. You can learn more about my background and approach before deciding whether a conversation would be useful.

We look beyond the initial explanation. We establish the facts, challenge assumptions and explore the different possibilities.

Sometimes that means recognising that someone has been performing far better than they give themselves credit for. Sometimes it means acknowledging that they have been working hard without a sufficiently clear strategy. And sometimes it means recognising that their ambitions have changed, even if they are finding it difficult to admit that to themselves.

The aim is to create enough clarity to make a decision based on what you genuinely want, rather than frustration, fear or the expectations of others.

Whether you decide to stay in private equity, change your role or pursue something entirely different, the next chapter deserves to be a conscious decision, not simply a reaction to a difficult year.

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