STUDENT CLUB UPDATE 
The PE/VC Club’s Fall 2023 semester has just come to an end! We are grateful for our 980+ members, who have made our club the largest professional club at Wharton.  As we reflect on an amazing first semester at Wharton, we want to thank all our alumni who have given back to the community by participating in various events and providing invaluable advice and mentorship to our members as they embark on the next stage of their careers.

The Club’s Co-Presidents, Faye Teng and Darrell Hanks, have done an excellent job in their first semester leading the organization. In the Fall, the organization has supported various events for students with the mission of expanding career and education-related opportunities within private equity and venture capital.

RECENT STUDENT EVENTS 

The last few months have been an exciting time for the Club. We have hosted 15+ professional / educational events, led eight firm treks, and organized three major social events for our members during the Fall of 2023.  Below are a few highlighted events that occurred!
 

PE/VC RECRUITER PANEL & NETWORKING

On September 21st, the PE/VC club hosted its first ever PE/VC recruiter focused panel and networking event.  During this event, 90 MBAs had the opportunity to learn from and network with CPI, Amity, Henkel, and SG Partners on Wharton’s campus.  The event was an excellent opportunity to interact with the firms that are playing an increasingly important role MBA internships and full-time placement into competitive PE/VC roles.

PE CASE PREP & ADVANCED INTERVIEW TRAINING
On December 4th and 5th, over 250 MBA students participated in a two-part session where the PE/VC Club’s Head of PE Education, Swagat Shetty, and Head of PE Professional Development, Sarah Mironov, assisted MBAs looking to excel in their upcoming interviews for PE internships and full-time roles. During these two days, several topics were covered, including model building, case study debrief preparation, elevator pitch crafting, and PE target list drafting.

FIRESIDE CHATS
As in past semesters, we hosted several fireside chats with senior professionals in PE/VC who generously shared their perspectives with current MBA students. This semester, we were visited by Doug Berman (Global Head of Private Equity @ HIG Capital), Will Chen (Managing Director of Private Equity @ Partners Group), Victor Khosla (CIO @ Strategic Value Partners), and Sachin Khajuria (Former PE Partner @ Apollo & NYT Bestselling Author).  Over 400 MBAs tuned into these four conversations to gain insights from accomplished investors. 

PE & VC EDUCATION
The PE/VC Club continued to provide several educational opportunities to its membership base over the course of the Fall semester.

On October 3rd, Ankur Rathi (Partner) and Matt Londa (Vice President) at Sunstone Partners joined us on campus to discuss their thoughts on how to best support founders as a growth equity partner.  70+ MBA students tuned in to gain valuable insights on how to be a partner-oriented growth equity investor.

On October 24th, Alexandra Zink (Director of Learning and Development) and Ryan McDonald (Investment Professional) of the Orion Group (Alpine Investors portfolio company) came to campus to discuss how private equity intersects with the entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) universe.  80 MBA students engaged with Alexandra and Ryan to greater understand how Orion is using M&A to create meaningfully scaled portfolio companies.

On October 25th, Chip Lebowitz (WG ’20 – Senior Associate @ Cerberus), came to campus to discuss the role of operational improvements and value creation in private equity investing.

On October 31st, Victoria Shih (WG ’21 – VP @ Francisco Partners) and Rahul Kahul (WG ’22 – VP @ Francisco Partners) joined us on campus to discuss their thoughts on thematic sourcing in a competitive private equity market. Over 120 MBAs came to learn from Victoria and Rahul’s perspectives on how to develop effective theses that can be used to proactively source new private equity deals.