Private Equity cover letter example

Private equity firms rely on networking, personability and finance savvy to raise funds and invest in or buy other companies. To succeed in this arm of the financial world, you need to be able to spot value and predict business trends. To write a private equity cover letter that impresses, you need to demonstrate all those qualities in just a few terse paragraphs.

Private equity firms and funds hold assets worth a net of almost $14 billion, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In this high-stakes industry, you need to be on your game at all times. 

So how do you project that you know how to spot a money-maker and manage multimillion dollar funds in a private equity cover letter? You craft a thoughtful document  to express how your combination of intuition and hard analysis makes you a winner.

In this writing guide, along with the corresponding private equity cover letter example, we’ll cover the following topics to help you write the best cover letter possible:

• How to choose the best cover letter format and what paragraphs the cover letter should include.
• How to maximize the effect of each cover letter paragraph (header, greeting, intro, body and conclusion).
• What approach to take when writing your cover letter sample.
• The critical mistakes to avoid when creating a private equity cover letter.

What are some of the key considerations for a private equity investor when they sit down to write their cover letter? What will set them apart from the other candidates? Let’s dive into the guide below to analyze the details. You can also check out our library of 180+ cover letter examples.

Best format for a private equity cover letter

While we said above that you should let go of the tight formatting of your resume, your private equity cover letter should still follow a framework within which you can get creative.

The format of a private equity cover letter sample should contain the following elements:

• The cover letter header
• The greeting / salutation
• The cover letter intro
• The middle paragraphs (body of the letter)
• The ending paragraph of your cover letter (conclusion and signature)

Your private equity cover letter should explain your investment philosophy, how you manage a fund and how you grow the fund. Definitely include any impressive numbers or investments you made that beat the market, but do more than tout the percentage growth of funds you have worked on — detail how you made it happen. 

The comprehensive cover letter guide gives general information about building a great cover letter. Below, this guide breaks down each area of a private equity cover letter and offers advice on how to make it shine.

This private equity cover letter example is a good foundation to develop your own professional application:

Cover letter header

The cover letter header adds a little flourish to your document, but its real purpose is to make it easy for recruiters to remember you and find your contact information. This section should include your name, email and phone number so that when your letter puts your candidacy over the top, the recruiter doesn’t have to open another document to figure out how to reach you.

The aim of the cover letter header: Make it easy for recruiters to contact you by clearly listing all your information in eye-catching, but readable, form.

Cover letter greeting

You are applying to manage hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. Begin with an air of professionalism. While the world is getting more informal, you need to err on the side of formality with your private equity cover letter greeting unless you know the hiring manager.

Our cover letter example sticks to “Dear Mr./Ms./Dr.,” Be sure you are spelling the person’s name correctly and have the right salutation. There’s no quicker way to lower your chances at an interview than making an error here. People like to be addressed personally, but they may also take offense if you get it wrong.

Start by researching the name of the person who will receive your cover letter. Personalization always beats a generic “Dear Hiring Manager,” but if you absolutely can’t find an individual’s name, you may go with “Dear Financial Team,” or a similar greeting. Avoid the staid “ to whom it may concern.” 

The aim of letter greeting / salutation: Present a professional image right from the start with a formal greeting that addresses the hiring manager directly.

Cover letter introduction

Part of your job as a private equity investor is to garner new funding. You do that through introductions to potential funders and investors. How do you gain their confidence and pique their interest? You need to use the same technique to start your private equity cover letter.

A cover letter intro jumps to the heart of the matter: Why should the company hire you? What are you going to bring to the firm that makes you stand out among candidates? What experience do you have that makes you the best person for the position? What specific industry do you focus on? Your intro is a mere one or two sentences, so don’t mince words.

Offer a summary that shows you already know how to do the job and are ready to take the fund even higher. Your analytical abilities play a large role in your private equity work, so consider adding a pertinent detail about them. You can find a model introduction in our cover letter sample below.

The aim of the cover letter intro: Get started with a bang by telling the hiring manager how you will bring the fund to ever-higher levels. Pique their interest so they want to read on.

Cover letter middle part (body)

You’ve jolted their interest, now it’s time to get into the details that make your career special. The middle part, or body, of your private equity cover letter may use bullet points to highlight several achievements and as a visual break from a large block of text.

This is a field where you need to be highly ambitious and competitive as well as detail-oriented and quantitative. “Private equity is one of the most competitive jobs to get – period,” says finance career trainer Mike Hinkley. “Not just in finance, but across the board.  Private equity firms have very specific requirements for their hire candidates, both for entry-level analyst positions and for higher-level job openings.”

Pick an anecdote that illustrates how you approached a problem with a unique lens and show off your results. Consider whether it also shows off any of those attributes. Think of yourself as an asset and explain why the company needs to add that asset. 

You have two or three paragraphs, so aim for a couple of succinct stories that provide a  well-rounded picture of your professional personality and drive to succeed. See how to do this in the adaptable paragraph from our cover letter example below.

The aim of the body of your cover letter: Illustrate the qualities that make you successful in this highly driven field. Show what it’s like to work with you and your approach to investing

How to close a private equity cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)

Close with confidence! Remind the hiring manager what an asset you are and how your style fits well with the company. No need to resort to bragging, but do point out why you would make a great addition to the fund.

This last paragraph is the perfect spot to show off your competitive nature with a glimpse of something personal. It’s a great sign that the hiring manager has made it to the end of your private equity cover letter so reward them with an extra insight into who you are. Leave them with a question they can follow up with on your interview. 

Your final task is a call to action. The goal of your entire letter is to end up with an interview, so let them know you want it! Keep it formal and don’t make presumptions such as “I will explain more when we meet,” but do request a meeting at the hiring manager’s convenience. See a call to action in our cover letter sample below.

The aim of this part: Finish by telling your future employer why they should employ you and justify your request for an interview.

Writing psychology: how to highlight your best qualities in your cover letter

You’re in an industry that expects you to be hard-charging, so make sure your private equity cover letter expresses your Type A nature. While you need to assure the firm that you are competitive, you don’t want to come off as cutthroat. Try to find a balance. 

You have room for a personal touch, so soften your high ambition by discussing your interpersonal skills as well.

The aim of your application  letter is to:

• Demonstrate your financial modeling and analysis skills
• Show you have deep knowledge of a specific industry
• Illustrate who you are as a person and how you relate to others
• Focus hardest on how you grow funds and your financial philosophy.

No matter how great of a spreadsheet guru you are, if you can’t demonstrate that you can pump up the fund’s assets, you aren’t of any value to a private equity firm. You’re a numbers person, so use those numbers to make a great case for yourself.

At times, you may be stepping in to help a company grow in value by offering management advice. What management problems have you solved? What results did you garner? Could you apply that experience at your prospective new firm? Make sure that information gets into your cover letter.

Private equity cover letter with no experience

All this advice is great, if you already have private equity experience, but what do you do if you are trying to break into this highly competitive field? 

If you have experience in investment banking, lean on that. Otherwise, if you are just out of undergraduate school and want to land a private equity analyst role, here are some tips:

• Lean a bit more heavily on your education and any relevant coursework you have. If you have completed an internship, that’s work experience.
• Focus on emotional intelligence and soft skills you have by giving examples from group work or employment and volunteer work that is unrelated to an auditing career.
• Mine your extracurricular activities, especially if you have acted as treasurer or another finance-related position.
• Spend an extra sentence or two related to hiring managers why you want to be in private equity and work at their company
• Illustrate your competitive and ambitious nature in any way you can.

You can stand out from the crowd by researching the company and focusing your cover letter more on how your philosophy and work style mesh with that of the company. Tout your attributes and how they will make you a great private equity analyst.

Basic mistakes in a private equity application letter (and how to avoid them)

Our cover letter example has offered up many tips for writing a letter that helps you reach the goal of an interview. Now we’ll tell you what not to do.

• Tell a long-winded story. Space (and the attention of recruiters) is at a premium. If you can’t get to the point quickly, it’s not the right anecdote for your cover letter.
• Use overblown language. You may want the thesaurus to find just the right word, but don’t overdo it. When you get the interview, you want to sound the way you did in your letter or you will seem inauthentic.
• Neglect to proofread. Private equity requires attention to detail, so make sure the spelling, grammar and formatting details of your cover letter are perfect.

Key takeaways

1. Show off your breadth of knowledge and analytical abilities
2. In your business, your competitive nature and ambition are important, so find a way to let the hiring manager know you’ve got what it takes
3. Use data backed up with your investment philosophies to make your point
4. Illustrate your interpersonal skills as well as your hard skills.

With Resume.io, writing your cover letter is as easy. Click on one of our ready-made and carefully market-researched cover letter templates and simply start writing. OK, maybe it’s not simple to start writing, but we hope the ideas in this guide get you going!