Ratio Advisors

What Ratio Advisors does

Ratio Advisors is a boutique executive search firm that recruits investment professionals for private equity firms, hedge funds, and alternative asset managers. Founded in 2019 and led by CEO and Managing Partner Vedica Jain Qalbani alongside a team of four additional founding partners, the firm operates from three US offices in New York (headquarters), San Francisco, and Boston, covering all major US financial centers. The firm is independently owned with no disclosed institutional backing, parent company, or external funding rounds.

The company's service portfolio is organized around the investment career lifecycle and consists of five core offerings: PRE-MBA Recruiting (sourcing and counseling candidates from bulge bracket banks, boutique banks, and top consulting firms), MBA Recruiting (on-campus engagement, candidate referencing, and compensation benchmarking), POST-MBA Recruiting (VP and principal-level searches), Team Build Outs (founding team construction for new funds), and Candidate Advisory (long-term career coaching). The firm differentiates itself through a thought-partner engagement model with clients, individualized search strategies, and a proprietary assessment rubric rather than through any technology platform.

Ratio Advisors generates revenue exclusively through professional services fees on retained executive search engagements; pricing is not publicly disclosed but is structured around the scope and seniority of roles. The go-to-market is sales-led and direct: partners and directors engage enterprise clients one-to-one, with no intermediaries, digital channels, or distribution partnerships. As of 2025 the firm has 20+ team members spanning partners, a managing director, a director of research and operations, principals, senior associates, associates, and an office manager, and has been actively expanding headcount across both 2024 and 2025.

Name

Ratio Advisors

Legal name

Ratio Advisors

Website

https://ratioadvisors.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ratio Advisors is a boutique executive search firm that recruits investment professionals for private equity firms, hedge funds, and alternative asset managers. Operating from New York, San Francisco, and Boston, it offers retained search services across pre-MBA, MBA, and post-MBA career stages.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Executive Search Services: Boutique executive search firm generating revenue through successful placements of investment professionals at private equity firms, hedge funds, and alternative asset managers. Services include Pre-MBA, MBA, Post-MBA recruiting, team build outs, and candidate advisory.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Ratio Advisors is a boutique executive search firm that partners with investment firms to build best-in-class investment teams. It delivers retained recruiting services across the candidate lifecycle—Pre-MBA, MBA, Post-MBA, Team Build Outs for new funds, and ongoing Candidate Advisory—serving private equity firms, hedge funds, and other alternative asset managers.

Product overview

Ratio Advisors is a boutique executive search firm offering a unified recruiting service portfolio structured around candidate career stages. The five core offerings—PRE-MBA Recruiting, MBA Recruiting, POST-MBA Recruiting, Team Build Outs, and Candidate Advisory—function as an integrated suite that enables the firm to serve investment clients across the entire talent lifecycle, from early-career professionals to founding team members. The services are unified by the firm's differentiated assessment rubric and individualized search strategies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pre-MBA Recruiting Services Sourcing, assessment, and career counseling for candidates in their first jobs at bulge bracket banks, boutique banks, and top strategy consulting firms, including those completing investing associate programs who choose roles over business school.
• MBA Recruiting Services Engagement with top MBA program students including detailed candidate referencing, campus marketing event strategy and implementation, and competitive compensation benchmarking for clients building their MBA campus brand.
• Post-MBA Recruiting Services VP and principal-level searches leveraging deep understanding of candidate backgrounds, specific experience, and personal/professional interests, with support on long-term team structure, promotion, retention, and talent management.
• Team Build Outs Comprehensive team building for new funds including sourcing across candidate seniorities, organizational structure input, and strategic guidance on marketing and communicating a new fund's identity and value proposition to the market.
• Candidate Advisory Career counseling approach providing ongoing assessment and advice to candidates through long-term advisory relationships as they progress through their careers, regardless of specific search involvement.

Named customers3 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• DHR Global: Executive search firm with a Financial Services practice covering asset management, private equity, and alternative investments. Comparable to Ratio Advisors in serving investment firm clients with retained search engagements.
• Spencer Stuart: Global executive search firm with a long-standing Financial Services Practice placing talent across asset management, private equity, and hedge funds. Multiple Ratio Advisors team members previously worked at Spencer Stuart, making it a direct competitor for the same investment mandates.
• Glocap Search: NYC-based boutique executive search firm exclusively focused on hedge fund, private equity, and alternative investment talent — the closest direct competitor to Ratio Advisors in terms of niche focus, size, and client base.
• Egon Zehnder: Global executive search firm with a Financial Services practice covering asset management, private equity, and alternative investments. Comparable to Ratio Advisors in serving investment clients with senior-level search mandates, though at much larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• Russell Reynolds Associates: Global executive search firm with a dedicated Asset & Wealth Management practice that recruits investment professionals at all levels, including for private equity and hedge fund clients — directly competing with Ratio Advisors for the same mandates.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search firm with a dedicated Financial Services practice that recruits investment professionals for private equity, hedge funds, and alternative asset managers — directly comparable to Ratio Advisors' core offering, but at significantly larger scale.
• JM Search: Executive search firm with a dedicated Financial Services Practice that recruits for private equity, hedge funds, and asset managers. Comparable in being a mid-sized, specialized search firm focused on investment industry talent.
• Odgers Berndtson: Global executive search firm with a Financial Services practice that recruits senior talent across asset management and private equity. Comparable to Ratio Advisors in investment industry focus, with broader international reach.

Emerging players

• GQR Global Markets: Recruitment firm specializing in quantitative trading, research, and investment talent for hedge funds and asset managers. Comparable to Ratio Advisors in serving investment firm clients with specialized talent searches, though with a more quantitative orientation.
• True Search: Executive search firm focused on placing talent at venture capital, growth equity, and private equity firms. Comparable to Ratio Advisors' Pre-MBA and Post-MBA practices serving investment clients, with overlap in private equity recruiting.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ratio Advisors