ICG Interview Process: Rounds, Timeline & Compensation
Michael King, PE Investment Manager ·
ICG runs a telephone interview, followed by an assessment centre combining a case study, a group exercise and one-on-one interviews with members of the investment team; ICG's HR team has said publicly it looks for candidates without a prior investment banking internship, a deliberate contrast to most City graduate schemes, though that is a stated hiring philosophy rather than a guaranteed screening rule.. The two-year London-based graduate programme runs a single annual application cycle, with recent rounds opening in the autumn and closing well before the equivalent bulge-bracket bank deadlines; ICG also runs an 8-week summer internship across London, Warsaw and Luxembourg as the main pre-graduate route in, recruited partly through diversity partners including upReach, SEO London and GAIN. Publicly reported graduate analyst base pay at ICG sits in roughly the £35k-45k range (a small self-reported sample, so treat it as indicative rather than precise) — below the roughly £55k-85k first-year base typical at a bulge-bracket bank in London, consistent with ICG's positioning as an asset manager rather than a pure advisory or buyout shop. ICG offers carried interest and co-investment participation at senior investment levels, but not at graduate or first-year analyst grade.
Interview rounds
A telephone interview, followed by an assessment centre combining a case study, a group exercise and one-on-one interviews with members of the investment team; ICG's HR team has said publicly it looks for candidates without a prior investment banking internship, a deliberate contrast to most City graduate schemes, though that is a stated hiring philosophy rather than a guaranteed screening rule.
Typical timeline
The two-year London-based graduate programme runs a single annual application cycle, with recent rounds opening in the autumn and closing well before the equivalent bulge-bracket bank deadlines; ICG also runs an 8-week summer internship across London, Warsaw and Luxembourg as the main pre-graduate route in, recruited partly through diversity partners including upReach, SEO London and GAIN.
Compensation range
Publicly reported graduate analyst base pay at ICG sits in roughly the £35k-45k range (a small self-reported sample, so treat it as indicative rather than precise) — below the roughly £55k-85k first-year base typical at a bulge-bracket bank in London, consistent with ICG's positioning as an asset manager rather than a pure advisory or buyout shop. ICG offers carried interest and co-investment participation at senior investment levels, but not at graduate or first-year analyst grade.
Notes
ICG plc is a FTSE 100-listed alternative asset manager with $126bn of assets under management as of mid-2026, spanning private debt and direct lending, private equity secondaries, structured and real assets, and credit — a broader, more diversified platform than a pure-play PE buyout shop, which shapes both the graduate rotation (across investment, client relations and corporate teams) and ICG's £1,500 annual allowance toward professional qualifications such as the IMC or CFA.
Frequently asked questions
How many interview rounds does ICG run?
A telephone interview, followed by an assessment centre combining a case study, a group exercise and one-on-one interviews with members of the investment team; ICG's HR team has said publicly it looks for candidates without a prior investment banking internship, a deliberate contrast to most City graduate schemes, though that is a stated hiring philosophy rather than a guaranteed screening rule.
How long does the ICG interview process take?
The two-year London-based graduate programme runs a single annual application cycle, with recent rounds opening in the autumn and closing well before the equivalent bulge-bracket bank deadlines; ICG also runs an 8-week summer internship across London, Warsaw and Luxembourg as the main pre-graduate route in, recruited partly through diversity partners including upReach, SEO London and GAIN.
What does ICG pay first-year hires?
Publicly reported graduate analyst base pay at ICG sits in roughly the £35k-45k range (a small self-reported sample, so treat it as indicative rather than precise) — below the roughly £55k-85k first-year base typical at a bulge-bracket bank in London, consistent with ICG's positioning as an asset manager rather than a pure advisory or buyout shop. ICG offers carried interest and co-investment participation at senior investment levels, but not at graduate or first-year analyst grade.