Moving from Investment Banking to Private Equity

I have been in investment banking for the last year now, and am really interested in eventually moving into Private Equity once I finish up my MBA in a year. Any advice on where to start looking?

22 Comments
  1. take down your pic and information from your profile immediately.
  2. as the above poster said, focus on the job and see whether you actually like it. After your first year, since you're at a MM I'm not sure whether there's a structured P/E recruiting process, start reaching out to headhunters. But again, for you to have talking points and be an attractive hire, you'd need deals. You won't get deal experience if your'e not good.
 

not a fan of starting career at a PE firm. Build skill set in IBD then make the move. at an entry level you want to maximize learning through deal experience.

 

^^ disagree. Learning the technical modeling of IB takes a few months of practice which can be attained in PE but starting in PE i feel you get molded by your seniors (most of whom come from IB). I do agree in that deal flow is much slower in PE, once you are on a live deal the DD is much deaper and you are much more engaged in the deal. Also, watching your bosses interactions with portfolio company mngmt. can really teach you a lot. Different strokes for different folks.

Main points: 1.) Unless you are talking about Mega funds the pay in PE at an analyst level is less than IB 2.) Usually very small analyst classes so your pretty much on your own. 3.) Hours arent as crazy (not good hours but just not as bad as IB) 4.) Less deals but way more interaction with the higher ups

Just my personal experience.

 
Best Response
HFFBALLfan123^^ disagree. Learning the technical modeling of IB takes a few months of practice which can be attained in PE but starting in PE i feel you get molded by your seniors (most of whom come from IB). I do agree in that deal flow is much slower in PE, once you are on a live deal the DD is much deaper and you are much more engaged in the deal. Also, watching your bosses interactions with portfolio company mngmt. can really teach you a lot. Different strokes for different folks.

Main points: 1.) Unless you are talking about Mega funds the pay in PE at an analyst level is less than IB 2.) Usually very small analyst classes so your pretty much on your own. 3.) Hours arent as crazy (not good hours but just not as bad as IB) 4.) Less deals but way more interaction with the higher ups

Just my personal experience.

I agree with everything here. Another thing to add is that most MM IBs crave sell-side mandates, which I don't feel prepare you very well for PE. IBD only teaches you how a transaction works, it won't really teach you why you should be making an investment. Essentially, in sell-side mandates you're really just a broker.

 

See I'd be interested in PE starting out SOLELY because of the interaction with higher ups. I mean, you have to always be on your game, but if you're good, it will undoubtedly help you in the long run.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Thanks for the input. I guess my question is more focused on the long run (2-5 years). Would working at a regional PE shop give me a better chance to work in PE/IB in New York? I figured it would probably be easier to lateral over to NY at the IB analyst level. My original plan was to try and lateral over to a boutique or MM shop in NY after a year of work.

In terms of pay, deal flow, analyst class, interaction with /quality of senior management... I know that the PE shop will be equal if not better in all three areas compared to my current gig, but probably not in terms of pay/deal flow when compared to the MM.

 
bankforyourbuckThanks for the input. I guess my question is more focused on the long run (2-5 years). Would working at a regional PE shop give me a better chance to work in PE/IB in New York? I figured it would probably be easier to lateral over to NY at the IB analyst level. My original plan was to try and lateral over to a boutique or MM shop in NY after a year of work.

In terms of pay, deal flow, analyst class, interaction with /quality of senior management... I know that the PE shop will be equal if not better in all three areas compared to my current gig, but probably not in terms of pay/deal flow when compared to the MM.

What is your salary at the small regional boutique?

 
bankforyourbuckQuite a bit below street, higher than Big 4. That's all I want to divulge at the moment.

Is this just for interest sake?

Since Im guessing you went to University of Toronto and specialized in Finance and Economics. Correct me if Im wrong.

Its just that im going to rotman and debating whether to specialize in Finance and Economics, accounting or management. And salary is a big factor...

 

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