The 2025 private-equity landscape in the UK is evolving quickly with increasing deal volumes and the overall market continuing to expand. The availability of finance, as a global comparison, is less of an issue as, according to the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), UK-based PE firms have approximately £178 billion in “dry powder” capital reserves they plan to deploy over the next three to five years. However, according to a recent survey by Grant Thornton, finding and retaining top talent is the main barrier for private equity houses in the UK. Others include dealing with the regulatory environment, conditions for exits and liquidity events and deal sourcing.
This all points to a challenging, rewarding and sustainable career for those wishing to become a Private Equity CEO (PE CEO). With the right skills and understanding of the PE CEO role, you could land yourself the perfect role at a portfolio company that’s creating real value. Given the short supply of CEOs from PE backgrounds, firms are increasingly recruiting CEOs with different experiences but with the requisite skillset.
Private equity or Corporate CEO?
The differences between a PE CEO and a CEO of corporates are nuanced. One of the biggest differences is in the pace of the role. It’s been said that a CEO in a corporate firm may look at their weekly agenda to prioritise, whereas a PE-backed CEO will look at their watch. The PE-backed CEO must deliver a broad and deep agenda within a short timeframe which can make the role notoriously all-consuming.
A PE CEO must be ready to deal with a much more active board – the oversight of the portfolio company is their day job, not just a fiduciary duty. This translates to more frequent and in-depth financial reviews, interventions when plans deviate or progression is too slow and a more hands-on role in management team selection. PE CEOs need to be prepared to answer probing questions, and they can equally treat their board as collaborators, however sceptical they may be to some of their ideas.
PE-backed CEOs may sometimes have to be less strategic and more skilled at executing a strategy. This is because the investment thesis is pre-ordained, and the business plan is often “written in blood”. This isn’t to say that there’s any lack of creativity that’s required for the role – the PE CEO must always look for new ways to underwrite and expand the value-creation plan.
To do this though, you must have a detailed understanding of the deal thesis, understanding the numbers and value-creating levers more than any other type of CEO. It’s essential to be across the whole plan because extra capital to absorb mistakes can jeopardise the PE firm’s credibility and ability to generate returns.
So, a PE CEO must have an intricate understanding of the financials in a more thorough way compared to a similar corporate role. Added to this, the departmental lines are more blurred, so a successful PE CEO needs to be comfortable with a horizontal structure with fewer and looser hierarchies.
What does a private-equity CEO look like?
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what a successful PE-backed CEO is like, as it will differ post-to-post and industry to industry. There are, however, some traits and attributes that will be common to successful PE CEOs:
- Ownership mentality
In the PE world, speed to value creation is more highly prized than meticulous planning. To be a successful CEO in this environment, you must be prepared to hit the ground running and be bold in asking the difficult questions, continuously, over short periods of time. You need to be able to treat the portfolio company as though it were your own business, with a laser focus on value creation and holding period. Critical thinking is a must.
- Non-hierarchical thinking
PE-backed organisations are like sponges, absorbing strategy, talent and information from a broad network of internal and external stakeholders: Don’t think in silos and use your network alongside the firms to collaborate. There’s not much room for ego or manning the helm in a solitary fashion. Instead, you need to underpin your leadership by using the support that large PR firms can offer their leaders: from operations teams, advisors and experts to a network of other CEOs within the portfolio. If the PE firm doesn’t provide a strong enough network to support you, be proactive in developing and nurturing your own mentors and CEO peer relationships.
- Superlative team building skills
As a PE CEO, you’ll have to be an excellent people person with a knack for building high performance teams through effective recruitment, onboarding and retention. Empower teams, foster professional development and provide strong mentorship and coaching to deliver true organisational excellence and value creation through the company’s biggest asset: its people.
Success as a PE CEO
So, what does success look like for a PE CEO? Exiting within the ambitious timeline set by the firm would be the key objective for most, but it’s important to point out that no two PE CEO roles are the same and there will be differing objectives depending on the portfolio business.
To really succeed in the job, here’s a list of what you’ll have to master:
- Expect the unexpected
It may be no surprise that working in a PE-backed organisation can be a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Whilst the investment thesis needs to be managed and executed, there will, of course, be plenty of twists during the journey.
- Keep talking to your fund
Developing ties early on with your sponsors to establish shared goals is essential. This means that you can manage the communications and have more control over the conversation if, and when, challenges and issues arise.
- Have laser focus & decisiveness
Have trust in your operational peers – the CFO and the COO will be driving the day-to-day activity, leaving you to focus on external opportunities and engaging with other stakeholders. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t develop strong relationships with the rest of the internal C-suite, just try not to get too bogged down in the minutiae.
- Foment a culture of learning and accountability
The wrong culture can be the death of many great strategies and action plans. As such, a PE CEO needs to encourage innovation, change management and learning. In an M&A context, you will have to blend different cultures together at a time of significant upheaval and unrest. To build trust, articulate a clear future vision that your team can align with. Do this correctly and you’ll energise the organisation, spark enthusiasm and foster a sense of ownership.
At The Siena Partnership, we work with our clients to recruit top private equity CEOs who can deliver real value. If you’d like to continue the conversation with our Managing Partner & Founder, Roberto Del-Mashcio, contact him here: roberto@thesienapartnership.com