PE talent is migrating south from NY

A change of lifestyle, tax break incentives and the ability to work from home are driving more PE professionals to move to Miami and Dallas-Fort Worth from New York City.

According to executive search firm Eastward Partners’ latest Private Equity Market Report Q3 2022, mid-market private equity firms in Miami have gained 38 percent of their talent from New York City in the past 12 months.

Dallas-Fort Worth saw 14 percent of its PE workforce come from the Big Apple.

Conversely, New York has seen an influx of talent from other regions, with 11 percent of its private equity talent coming from Boston, and 9 percent coming from both San Francisco and Philadelphia, Eastward’s report said.

New York City has the largest concentration of professionals working in private equity, with 23 percent of the US’s total PE work force, according to Eastwood Partners. The next largest markets for PE professionals in the US are Chicago with 6 percent, and San Francisco and Los Angeles each accounting for 5 percent of the PE workforce.

Brett Vecchio, associate partner and head of private equity at Eastward Partners, said the recent moves to Miami and Dallas pose an interesting challenge to firms looking to establish quick growth through hiring.

“The firms catching on to this trend are already establishing a presence in these areas by opening offices and changing their offering in regard to work-from-home options. By moving with the talent, they give themselves every chance of landing and integrating a pivotal piece to growing a business; its people,” Vecchio said.