Classes are held on Saturday and Sunday at a private club in mid-town Manhattan from 9AM - 5 PM. The exact address will be given to students in the days before the class.

The price of both the Private Equity Intensive Training and Fund Creation courses are the same. For in-class students, the price is $1,295 for professionals and $990 for students. For web-based students (both professionals and students) the price is $495.

Our three primary competitors charge $1,795, $2,495 and $3,500 (as of January 2008) for the equivalent in-class training. Our prices are lower primarily because our instructors are professionals from private equity funds and companies who generally donate their time because their firms are looking for employees to hire from the students who take the class.

A student in the Private Equity training course will learn how to:

• Design and write a Private Placement Memorandum.
• Structure and write a Term Sheet or Memorandum of Understanding.
• Calculate a weighted average cost of capital.
• Analyze a Leveraged Buy-Out (LBO).

Students participating in class will able to:

• Interact better with the professionals teaching the course.
• Work in groups with other students on case studies and work assignments.
• Network with students and job opportunities in New York.

A graduate of the Private Equity training course will be able to:

• Review and apply for the opportunities in PEI's Job's database.
• Connect with professionals teaching the class via Linked-In.
• Work with companies to raise capital in Private Equity Stock Evaluation (www.privateequitystockevaluation.com).
• Receive a diploma and use the PEA designation after completing their profile, feedback and testing.

The classes are taught by professionals who work in private equity firms. The professionals are from firms who donate one day per week for instruction in return for the ability to meet students who take the course as potential hires. The Fund Creation class are taught by professionals from private equity funds that have a history raising assets.

Most students who live in the tri-state New York area tend to take the in-class option because it allows better networking and interaction with the professionals during breaks. In the past, about two thirds of our students have been in-class participants, including many who have flown in from London. That being said, the web-based course is probably a better option for those who would have to take a plane and rent a hotel room to take the class in person.

We use the latest GoToMeeting technology that allows you to see everything on the instructors screen. This includes the movement of the instructors cursor which makes the teaching of the financial models much easier. Furthermore, we use Polycom conference speakers which gives excellent audio quality to hear the instructor plus allowing you to hear questions from other students in the class.

We know and like the people who run the Investment Banking Institute and think they offer a good program. Our class has several important differences:

• We have a long history of helping students find employment through our job placement database.
• We have an internship program that helps students find work at investment banking and private equity firms.
• Our program is a very intensive, 9AM - 5PM two day course, which allows us to graduate students in one weekend.
• Our program costs about half the price.
• Our program has a web-option which costs even less and eliminates commuting costs.

Most importantly, all of our graduates are given access to www.pese.com and allowed to work on private equity and investment banking deals.

Graduates are asked to complete their profiles (so we can help them get jobs), complete a feedback form (so we can improve our course), and take a test on each of the four sections of the class (so we can help employers evaluate you). After completing these three steps, we will mail you a Private Equity Institute diploma and encourage you to use the PEA designation.

Of course not, and we generally dissuade individuals who have these types of unreasonable expectations from taking the class.

It is hard to calculate because graduates who have found jobs tend not to remember to tell us! We do have many testimonials posted on our web site from students who have taken the course and found either jobs or internships.

Private equity and investment banking are very similar. The primary difference is that private companies don't register with the SEC while public companies file quarterly registration statements. This makes private equity more challenging, but most of the skills such as valuation and model building are the same.

Private Equity Stock Evaluation is a web site that private companies use to raise capital from private equity funds. There are over 20,000 accredited investors qualified to use this site. Graduates of PEI will be able to work with companies on this site to raise capital. However, you will not be able to search for investment unless you qualify under the SEC's regulation D as an accredited investor.