Why Advent International: Interviews, Careers, & Portfolio

Advent International Overview

Advent International is a private equity firm which focuses on company buyouts in Central & Western Europe, Latin America, North America, and Asia.

The firm was founded in 1984 as a “spin-out” from TA Associates by Peter Brooke and is currently located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Advent International primarily invests on five sectors:

• Business & Financial Services
• Healthcare
• Industrial
• Retail, Consumer & Leisure
• Technology

The firm also manages three private equity investment programs:

1. Global Private Equity (GPE) – invests in Europe, North America, and Asia
2. Latin American Private Equity Fund (LAPEF) – investing primarily in Latin America 
3. Advent Global Technology (Advent Tech) – fund focused on tech supporting the GPE program

As part of their investment strategy, Advent International does not impose a fixed percentage of capital to any particular sector or geography. The firm adapts to ever changing market conditions and dynamically modify their capital and resources allocation to the most promising private equity investment opportunities.

In June 2023, the firm was Top 7 in Private Equity International’s PEI 300 ranking of the largest PE in the world.

Advent International AUM

As per the most recent regulatory filings, Advent International has $91.7 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2023.

Advent International Interview Process & Questions

Firms can always make changes in their interview process with each candidate whenever they see fit. However, some parts of the interview process stays the same for Advent International (or similar firms) such as the following:

• There will be 4 to 6 rounds of interviews
• The HR team or junior investment professionals take the lead during initial interviews, while the more senior folks supervise the later rounds
• Entire process could take several weeks (unless it is “on-cycle” or “on-campus” recruiting)

Interviews at Advent International will most likely be composed of technical / investing questions,  behavioral questions, and fit questions.

If you need preparation materials for your interviews, check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide.

Why Advent International

One of the frequently asked and crucial questions during interviews is “Why this firm?”

Take this opportunity to mention whoever you’ve met during your networking efforts and how they’ve solidified your decision on why you specifically chose their firm.

Another way to prepare for this question is to research the firm. You can listen to interviews with its founders, investors, and executives to get insights about how the firm talks about itself in its own words and have ideas on their future plans.

As a starting point, here’s an excellent interview with Tricia Glynn, a managing director at Advent International:

More interviews

• Interview with David Mussafer, Managing Partner of Advent International
• Tricia Glynn, Managing Director at Advent International, on private equity deals
• Interesting discussion with Advent International’s Christina Drakos

Advent International Case Study

Interviewees are almost always required to conduct a case study during interviews. Case studies generally assess the candidate’s technical knowledge and communication skills.

Most case studies consist of financial modeling and investment recommendations. However, cold calling case study may also be required for junior roles.

For case study preparations, check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide.

Advent International Salary & Compensation

According to Glassdoor, Advent International offers an estimated total pay of $89,183 for analysts and $91,657 per year for associates. These figures represent the median salary and can still vary depending on the candidate’s level of experience, education, and skills.

Analyst

Associate

From other public sources, recent associates at Advent International have earned salaries of $150,000 per year, while there is no recent information for analyst hires.

Advent International Careers, Jobs, & Internships

To find which roles Advent International is currently hiring for, go to our job board where you can also see open roles for similar firms.

Advent International Portfolio & Investments

According to Crunchbase, Advent International has 211 investment transactions which include some notable deals such as Envalior, LBS Hygiene, and Kreditbee.

Notable Transaction: Zenoti

Zenoti is an all-in-one, cloud-based solution made for the beauty and wellness industry – specifically spas and salons worldwide. It enables users to manage different parts of their business such as POS, appointment bookings, employee management, marketing, inventory management, and more using a comprehensive mobile solution.

This helps users streamline their processes and reduce costs while increasing retention and spending of customers.

In December 2020, Zenoti closed a $160 million Series D funding, which surpassed $1 billion unicorn valuation, led by Advent International.

The fund was allocated to support research and development, scaling operations, and drive their AI innovations.

This investment marked Advent’s 17th growth equity investment in 2020.

Next Steps

Advent International is definitely an excellent firm for anyone looking to grow in the finance industry. If you’re planning to join their team or have already found the perfect role for you in our job board, I highly recommend you check out my Growth Equity Interview Guide.

Growth Equity Interview Guide is a self-paced online course which helps professionals become the top pick during the hiring process through step-by-step lessons, useful mental models & frameworks, and expert tips.

Get the course and start learning today!