LMM to UMM PE Firm
Interviewing at LMM PE firms right now that don't really have much name or recognition outside of being inside that same city. Without any reputable IB experience and instead from a MM Acc firm doing TAS, is it doable to go from LMM to a bit larger or even UMM firm after a year or two as an associate at a LMM firm? End goal size examples would be TSG Consumer, American Industrial Partners, Kohlberg & Company, basically 15 plus inv professionals with majority from reputable IB analyst stints.
Economy has gone downhill rather quickly, and the banks are not hiring as much. The question is, can I pivot into PE from one of these LMM shops that's becoming more mature and raising a new fund or should I just wait and try and snag a IB analyst role?
Naturally IB would be the move but the economy mixed with timeline is not ideal.
Associate 2 in Acct - Other, way too quiet in here. What about these resources:
More suggestions...
I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.
Bump - despite your background, I'd like to know what's the general consensus on moving from a LMM fund to just MM or UMM? Is it impossible or just how hard would one need to network and stars align?
It’s tough because you’re competing with people from MF PE backgrounds looking to move down market. It’s even harder when you don’t have experience at a reputable IB analyst program. If you look at all of the team pages across UMM, you will find little to no presence of people moving upmarket from LMM PE firms.
In your experience, is this equally true for MM PE ($1+ bn latest fund vintage)?
Have you received an offer from the LMM fund? Your write up suggests like you would be doing them a favor and I am not sure they will see it the same way.
Naturally I would be extremely grateful for the role as it is private equity, a dream job for many including myself. And I'd even consider staying even longer than associate given the firm once working there. No didn't receive an offer yet.
It is doable, but you need some way to stand out or demonstrate your value. In my experience, the easiest ways to do this are (1) networking - bit cliche but always important, and (2) depth of sector expertise.
At my MM firm, people have been able to move upstream (if they want) by showing experience on well known (albeit smaller) deals within our focus sectors to then go to larger firms that are expanding their investment teams in that sector. If you can talk the talk of that particular team and industry better than a generalist associate can, then you have a better shot at being able to get that seat when compared against a generalist.
I will caveat that without any banking experience you will struggle more to make that jump. I would also think it would be a struggle to go from generalist LMM to MF.
Will likely face this situation in a couple years (Big 4 advisory -> MM PE, both industry focused). Does it make sense to try and get into an IB Associate role to make the move to MF/UMM PE? Ok with staying in the same industry all throughout.
Associate no it's even harder to pivot to private equity as an associate which would be another untraditional factor when recruiting, but analyst possibly. Plus, I'm not sure you'd be able to pivot over to banking at the associate level even if you tried.
Otherwise also per the comments above you'll be at a disadvantage going forward without having the reputable analyst stint on your resume.
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