‘No-one should be under any illusion that the hours are fewer, or the work less demanding. You don’t have the luxury of working on just one thing; you’re juggling multiple deals, multiple fund formations and perhaps litigation,’ says Carlyle partner, chief risk officer, head of EMEA and global general counsel (GC) for Investments Heather Mitchell of the reality of succeeding in the notoriously tough, deal-driven world of private capital.
If anyone should know about juggling, it’s Mitchell, who currently holds not just one role at the $425bn AUM organisation but three – splitting her time between global GC and chief risk officer for the investment business, as well as overall head of Carlyle EMEA.
You don’t need a split role like Mitchell’s to find the in-house private capital role hectic though, as Bridgepoint partner and group GC Rachel Thompson points out. ‘Don’t think you’re going to get an easy ride in-house – it isn’t an easy option. It’s a different kind of intensity; the days are manic and full every day. You’re not riding the wave of being on a deal, off a deal… it’s constant and there’s always something you could be working on so you can never really switch off.’
The on/off unpredictability of deals is one of the reasons regularly cited as an explanation for why there are fewer senior women in private practice in private equity/M&A than less transactional practices.
‘Don’t think you’re going to get an easy ride in-house – it’s a different kind of intensity; the days are manic and full.’
Rachel Thompson, Bridgepoint
But whether in-house or in private practice, deals are still what private equity is all about. And despite the workload, women like Mitchell and Thompson have been steadily rising to the top legal roles in these organisations and are frequently leading the charge.
Women currently hold the top UK-based legal role in six of the ten largest houses in our Private Equity Elite and make up 11 of the 24 GCs identified through the dozens of interviews we carried out with private practice and in-house lawyers [click here to view the full list]. Significantly, when looking at the rising stars tipped for success by the market, women are also well-represented in transactional or deputy GC roles, suggesting a strong pipeline of female talent.
The figures are even more impressive given that the private capital industry is so male-dominated on the investment side that a McKinsey report published last year suggested it could take more than six decades to reach gender parity at MD level at the current rate of progress.
Here, some of these women talk about the reality of the job and climbing to the top.
Climbing the ladder
‘I was often the only woman on a call,’ muses former CVC GC Lauren Livingston, who left CVC, which listed in Amsterdam in April this year, in January after 17 years to set up her own executive coaching business, Compass Leading. ‘The data speaks for itself, although there’ve been some improvements. The investment side of PE is still pretty male because it largely feeds off banking, which is worse for female representation than law.’
For Livingston, who regularly turned outside her own organisation to seek support from like-minded peers in equivalent positions at other firms during her time at CVC, being in the minority wasn’t always a bad thing. ‘There’s sometimes a benefit to being the only woman – you’re remembered, you have a voice and you’ve got an opportunity,’ she points out.
What’s clear from speaking to all of the GCs – male or female – profiled as part of our Private Equity Elite is that none of them felt pushed away from a long hours culture in law firms towards an easier life in-house; rather they were drawn to their first in-house role by the desire to get more involved in the business and commercial decisions. As Seda Yalçinkaya, partner and GC – International, at alternative asset manager Apollo Global Management, says: ‘I liked being part of the continuum of where the business goes.’
And at Apollo, which Yalçinkaya joined in 2019 from Silver Lake, as with many of the firms featured within our research, ‘where the business goes’ frequently equates to significant expansion across geographies and asset classes.
All of which means that on top of the day job of managing the legal aspects of countless deals each year, private capital GCs are also dealing with constantly changing and expanding regulatory hurdles, as well as litigation risk and internal corporate strategy.
KKR managing director and GC for Europe, Susanna Berger points out that since she joined KKR 15 years ago, the business has completely transformed, going from a team of ‘about 40 people focused purely on private equity’ to an alternative asset manager covering ‘multiple asset classes including infrastructure, real estate and credit’.
In Berger’s words, it means that: ‘You have to be able to balance competing demands, which can sometimes be a challenge with a lean team.’
Juggling acts
There is a case to be made that the softer skills required to build and manage relationships, and shepherd deals from inception to portfolio company status over many years, can play to the strengths of some female lawyers.
‘Maybe [there are more women in-house] because of the softer skillset; you have to reach consensus and drive that decision,’ ponders Mitchell. ‘You have to have that collaborative nature.’
‘Working in this environment tests and nurtures a different skillset,’ agrees Thompson over at Bridgepoint. ‘It’s the project management side, the people side, the softer skills. It’s also a chance to work in a place that really aligns with your values.’
Mitchell’s colleague at Carlyle, European GC, Anna-Louise Oliver, has a slightly different take on why there are comparatively more women in prominent roles within the big houses.
‘In this industry, we work with a lot of egos, and to a degree, that’s necessary,’ she says. ‘People are making very big, important strategic investment decisions all the time. As a woman, when asked for your opinion, sometimes you just don’t present with as much ego, which means that your judgement or opinion is given more weight.’
Yalçinkaya believes part of the reason so many of these talented women choose to leave private practice for in-house roles is timing. ‘The time when they’re trying to make partner at their law firms often coincides with the time they’re trying to build families; often they feel that they have to choose between one of these two options because they are not supported well.’
She acknowledges that ‘clients can be demanding and deals can be unpredictable’, which may make it more difficult to balance work and life in private practice. While the workload is at least as big in-house (by way of example, several GCs note that tasks can sometimes stay on to-do lists for years as other priorities take over) it can be easier to manage your time.
‘Your work/life balance doesn’t improve radically in-house, but the predictability of your work improves,’ suggests Yalçinkaya. ‘In-house, you know the deals your team is working on and the timing. In a law firm you might get a call on a Friday afternoon and have to work all weekend.’
Over at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, private capital partner Victoria Sigeti agrees with Yalçinkaya, but says things are improving. ‘Technology means hours spent in the office are less than they used to be, even at critical points of a transaction, but it doesn’t change the fundamental nature of the job – being at the client’s side when they need us.’
In keeping with Yalçinkaya’s thoughts about timing, Sigeti thinks that in the past law firms were not actively helping their associates manage their careers as well, which may have driven some to leave because they thought they would be overlooked.
She adds: ‘One thing that’s changed is that recognition that it’s incumbent on us as leaders to help people manage their careers. We’re equipping people to make the decision based on whether they want it, rather than people thinking they have no visibility [about whether or not they’ll make partner], and therefore leaving.’
Righting wrongs
Certainly, the number of leading partners in law firms is now increasing. Women now make up 28% of the Legal 500’s ranked private equity lawyers and this figure looks set to increase over time.
However, this improvement has been driven in part by the legal teams working within these powerful private capital organisations.
In addition to focusing on diversity within their own teams through measures such as strong parental leave support and flexibility, they are also holding their law firms to account, encouraging greater diversity at all levels.
‘We found that many law firms were generally diverse, but often not the teams we worked with. We made it our focus to change this.’
Susanna Berger, KKR
‘We work with a lot of senior partners who are women at our law firms. We have made a specific effort to partner with women to help bring change in the industry,’ says Berger. ‘When we looked at the composition of law firms many years ago, we found that firms were generally diverse but often not the teams we worked with. We made it our focus to change this. We now have some terrific women working with us.’
‘I have called up law firms and asked why X isn’t a partner yet – and am happy that I’ve had success!’ agrees Yalçinkaya. ‘Clients should be more deliberate in supporting rising female talent in the firms that they work frequently with – whether that’s supporting them through the family-building years, or championing them for partnership or management roles.’
And the efforts don’t end with pushing for specific lawyers to be made up. Most legal teams actively encourage their firms to be more diverse in all ways, even if they don’t have formal targets.
‘It’s through a combination of guidelines, reporting requirements and encouragement,’ says Mitchell.
‘I always believed that we shouldn’t just accept what firms offer,’ agrees Berger. ‘We have the ability to reshape our advisory network. Our lawyers represent us to management and portfolio companies, so they must reflect our commitment to diversity. This responsibility to drive change applies to all forms of diversity and falls on everyone.’
A quick glance at the gender makeup at many of the top law firms for private equity suggests the efforts are working, even if there is still more progress to be made. At regular KKR adviser Simpson Thacher’s London office, for example, the practice counts a number of well-known female partners such as Clare Gaskell, Amy Mahon and Wheatly MacNamara, while Freshfields now has four female partners in its London PE team.
Other private practice names highlighted by GCs include Farah O’Brien at Latham, Helen Croke at Ropes, Alexandra Davidson at Clifford Chance and Monika Przygoda at A&O Shearman.
Many of the women interviewed for this piece are not only looking at the diversity of their own teams and pushing for change within their external law firms – they are also involved in efforts to improve diversity on a wider level at their companies.
At Apollo, Yalçinkaya co-chairs the women’s network which recruits, supports and promotes women across the entire business, partnering with HR and recruiters to encourage women to join the PE, credit and real estate investment teams.
‘I think we’re doing a good job on the legal side, but we still need to make progress on the deal side – there’s definitely room for improvement’, says Yalçinkaya. ‘If legal is a trailblazer, that’s great, but we need to do more in the rest of the business.’
Mitchell points to the success that Carlyle has had within its investment teams but agrees that more can be done in the industry generally. ‘We’ve got a lot of stellar, outstanding women in senior investment and corporate roles, which is less common across the industry. It is fantastic, as our own research shows that diverse teams make better decisions.’
Her colleague Oliver points to Mitchell herself: ‘Obviously, we’re led by Heather, who has been a great leader and champion for our team. She’s done exceptionally well. She’s on the executive committee, she’s the chief risk officer and head of the global legal department as well. People definitely look up to her. She’s a great role model for young women.’
Despite the difficulties it’s clear that for all of these women the excitement of the role outweighs the challenges, which drives their desire to make sure it’s accessible.
As Berger concludes: ‘It is a challenging industry for everyone, but it’s a great industry. I have three children and managing work and family was not always easy. It’s important for everyone to find their ways to make it work for them – at KKR we have a big emphasis on flexibility, which has helped me a lot over the years.’ LB