ON Named Prominent Private Equity Recruiting Firm

ON Partners named on Hunt Scanlon’s annual roundup of the 75 most prominent executive search firms serving the private equity sector.

JUNE 18, 2020 – ON Partners, the experience-driven retained executive search firm, is proud to be named to the Private Equity Recruiting Power 75 list announced by market research firm Hunt Scanlon.  The list encompasses the nation’s leading executive search firms driving leadership results in the private equity sector.

The private equity ranking is the latest of several accolades ON Partners has received in the first half of 2020.  The firm was recently ranked 17th in Hunt Scanlon’s annual roundup of the top 50 recruiters in the Americas based on revenue – the highest organic growth rate among the nation’s top 20 executive search firms and outpacing the annual industry average. Additionally, ON was named to the first annual list of the Top 50 Healthcare & Life Sciences Search Firms, and once again named by Forbes as one of America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms.

PRIVATE EQUITY EXPERTISE

Private equity investors are keenly aware that leadership talent can be the difference between success and failure for a portfolio company. The expert consultants at ON routinely meet the high bar for talent, identifying Operating Partners, CEOs, CFOs, and other executives with the right technical skills and the private equity profile: the capability to work with limited resources, get their hands dirty, achieve performance metrics—and do it all fast.

ON Partners believes a better executive search experience matters, and that experience starts with expert, tenured specialists. We’ve been closely tracking shifts in leadership demand as it relates to the private equity sector during the pandemic, and our team of consultants have made a significant number of recent CEO placements in the space, including Advisor360°, Bazaarvoice, CDS, CINC Systems, Trinity3 Technology, Worksoft, and more.

Notes ON partner Jeff Hocking of the industry as it navigates the pandemic, “Once we start seeing things get back to normal, PE firms will be very focused on growth experience at the CEO and CRO level, but to ensure their investments are focused on the right actions, the CFO will also be in demand, maybe even greater than in the past.”

According to compiled insights from ON Partners consultants the most important role in a PE-backed company is the CFO, next to the CEO. Post-COVID-19, PE firms will be investing in companies poised for growth, but every PE firm wants measured growth with profitability vs. the growth at all costs business models we have seen in the past.  Traits PE firms will look for include a prior track record of working successfully in a PE-backed environment, extensive exposure to the board, strong leadership and decision-making skills, even if they are unpopular decisions. All PE firms want to maximize their investments and will rely on a CFO to do this, sometimes more so than the CEO.

For more of ON’s view on evolving private equity leadership demand, visit the ON Viewpoint series.

Learn more about our private equity based executive search services here.

ABOUT ON PARTNERS

ON Partners propels an organization’s mission by building C-level and board leadership teams. Founded in 2006 by like-minded consultants as a values-driven alternative to the multi-service global firms they were leaving behind, ON delivers a better executive search experience. Named by Forbes as one of America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms and to the Inc. 500/5000 Lists six times, the firm is consistently ranked among the top 20 retained executive search firms in the U.S. For more information, see our results here.

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Find our related successful placements of leading executives here.