Key Takeaways
- • Apollo will not conduct on-cycle recruiting for its 2028 associate class in calendar year 2026, according to a memo obtained by Business Insider, marking a second consecutive year of delay.
- • The memo, signed by David Sambur, co-head of Private Equity, and Antoine G. Munfakh, deputy global head of Private Equity, says Apollo will wait until candidates are closer to completing one full year of professional experience before formal recruiting.
- • Apollo is explicitly seeking to pressure the industry to follow suit; its prior 2025 delay for the 2027 class was followed by General Atlantic and others, pushing the recruiting timeline later across private equity.
- • JPMorgan's 2025 policy allowing termination of incoming analysts who accepted future-dated private equity offers remains part of the backdrop to the recruiting dispute.
Summary
Apollo Global Management is delaying its on-cycle recruiting for junior investment banking talent for a second consecutive year, aiming to reset a practice that has moved steadily earlier since the pandemic. According to an email obtained by Business Insider, the firm told prospective candidates on a Thursday afternoon that it will not recruit its 2028 associate class during the current calendar year. The memo was signed by David Sambur, co-head of Private Equity, and Antoine G. Munfakh, deputy global head of Private Equity.
The firm said it will wait until candidates who began investment banking careers over the summer are "closer to completing one full year of professional experience" before engaging in formal recruiting. The memo states that the aim is to give candidates time to gain experience and understand their interests, and to allow both candidates and employers to make "better decisions." Apollo said it will continue informal engagement in the meantime, including introducing candidates to its platform, and that its enthusiasm for recruiting junior talent has not changed.
The move follows Apollo's 2025 decision, announced by CEO Marc Rowan, to pause on-cycle recruiting for its 2027 associate class, which prompted General Atlantic and others to pause their own processes. The memo expressed encouragement that peers had followed and said Apollo hopes more firms will do the same this year. On-cycle recruiting, in which private equity firms hire junior bankers for associate roles one or two years before they start, has been criticized by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who called the practice "unethical." In 2025, JPMorgan adopted a policy under which incoming analysts could be terminated for accepting future-dated private equity offers.
Business Insider reported that questions had circulated about whether the practice would return early for the 2028 class; Apollo's memo appears to be an effort to slow the timeline across the industry again.
The firm said it will wait until candidates who began investment banking careers over the summer are "closer to completing one full year of professional experience" before engaging in formal recruiting. The memo states that the aim is to give candidates time to gain experience and understand their interests, and to allow both candidates and employers to make "better decisions." Apollo said it will continue informal engagement in the meantime, including introducing candidates to its platform, and that its enthusiasm for recruiting junior talent has not changed.
The move follows Apollo's 2025 decision, announced by CEO Marc Rowan, to pause on-cycle recruiting for its 2027 associate class, which prompted General Atlantic and others to pause their own processes. The memo expressed encouragement that peers had followed and said Apollo hopes more firms will do the same this year. On-cycle recruiting, in which private equity firms hire junior bankers for associate roles one or two years before they start, has been criticized by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who called the practice "unethical." In 2025, JPMorgan adopted a policy under which incoming analysts could be terminated for accepting future-dated private equity offers.
Business Insider reported that questions had circulated about whether the practice would return early for the 2028 class; Apollo's memo appears to be an effort to slow the timeline across the industry again.
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