How to renege BB IBD return offer for Megafund PE
Hi guys,
Summered at a BB as a sophomore. Received a return offer for this summer. Signed return offer. Subsequently received summer offer from KKR/Carlyle/Apollo.
I bonded quite well with the people in my team. A lot of them took me out to dinner and asked me if I'd like to rejoin the team. My questions are:
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Can I renege this without burning bridges? Surely they would understand? A lot of them would do the same I think.
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Can I renege this while also keeping FT open? In case the megafund doesn't give me a return.
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If the guys in my team ask where I am going, how much should I tell?
Thanks!
If you received a return offer for this summer, I would guess you are almost a lock for the FT offer. Do you want to do FT BB IB?
I would rather do FT MF PE than FT BB IB. But I suppose the comparison is more like ~100% chance of FT BB IB versus maybe 60% chance of FT MF PE, given the uncertain return chances at the MF.
But that discussion is moot. I have signed with the MF PE, thus I have to renege on one of them. I have decided to renege the BB. My concern is how I should do it, and whether I can do so while keeping the relationship warm.
I feel like it'd be rather tough to "keep the relationship warm" with the people at said BB. When I was going through interviews and the likes, I made it clear that I was there to be in investment banking (and obviously this is a rather common tactic, clearly no interviewer is going to hire you if your interests blatantly lie elsewhere). DO NOT say who or what you're turning down the offer for... remember to stay humble and appreciative that you got the BB offer to begin with. There is no need to rub it in their face to prove that you got a MF offer, or to essentially disclose where else you were interviewing. Some people may not care but others might find this really pretentious, there's no need to say where you accepted if you can help it. Something along the lines of "I decided to accept an offer from another firm" is fine and general enough, and obviously you can disclose the industry (PE) if asked - ideally you won't have to name the firm.
It's important that you renege and notify the BB as quickly as possible - it can potentially free up a spot for someone who may be waiting to hear back on the position that you're turning down. Be polite, straightforward, gracious, and the rest will be up to the person's reaction. All you can do on your end is to be as direct as possible.
Assuming you got the offers through OCR, I would be more worried about dealing with them than with the bank.
1) Depends on what you define by burning bridges. I don't think people will get angry or anything at you (as you said, they will understand), but then don't expect to keep the relationship warm. Keep in mind though that people react differently to these things. 2) Had you accepted the MF offer before committing to go back to the IB saying you wanted to try out something different, maybe but now you are untrustworthy in their eye and there's zero percent chance you can go there for FT. 3) You are going to one of their best client so it's not like you are swapping MS for GS for the added preftige. In any case, I feel there's more downside to not telling (ie. IB making a stink to your college recruiting team) than by telling.
Re-neg is fine. Just do it carefully and courteously. This is business. Unless you strung them along and used them to get leverage for your PE offer. Finance is a small circle, don't piss people off but no one will fault you for being somewhat selfish
Why not work both?
Just kidding. Can't believe that target schools have these people recruit on campus. Unreal.
Just be open with them and go to MF PE.
The "if they are ok with it" part is important because a) an intern reneging on a group specific offer is significant enough that the group head will at least know about it, b) your PE firm may terminate but they almost certainly will not give you a full time offer if they get a complaining call from a sr. MD at a bank.
Remember the symbiotic relationship - we may get hired for advisory business from PE, but they also desparately need us when they have to fund a major bridge loan, so no one at a MF PE firm is going to support an intern over a BB coverage bank.
Its more likely than not that nothing happens. If it were me, I'd be unlikely to blow up a kid's career unless they lied to me or strung me along. But there are plenty of other people who would view the situation differently and make an angry phone call. So I would assess as a less likely but not insigificant possibility something adverse happens. I would view it as too risky.
you're out of your mind if you think you're going to turn down lending business because some PE fund hired away an intern.
This is some real drama right here. A self-made conundrum of the finest order
OP it doesn't sound like you have multiple courses of action. Just respectfully tell the bank and hope they don't flip out. Not sure what else you could do
Been there, done that.
First of all, don't worry too much about the MF rescinding the offer or denying you a return because of this. The chance of this happening is approximately the same as getting into a fatal traffic accident. The fact the MF knew you had to renege to accept their offer makes me even more confident in saying this.
If your situation is similar to what I faced, and what my peers faced, you will likely be able to keep things warm with the people you worked / spoke closely with. Juniors especially. Some might even value their connection to you more because you are at the MF. Bankers aren't a bunch of cavemen who are going to shun you because you left the tribe. Yeesh.
Speaking from experience (if you are on warm terms with the bankers - which it seems you are) when you call the guys in your team to courteously let them know you can't come back, definitely do tell them you are going to MF PE, otherwise they will probably assume you are going to another bank (which makes the situation 10 times worse). If you do this right, in my experience the reaction is positive - Good luck, congratulations, good for you, where are they at again? oh right 9 W 57th, etc.
The firm probably has a soft or hard policy about reneging though, so say goodbye to FT possibilities at the BB. I can say this with relative certainty. But the human relationships can be kept alive no problem.
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