The end of the track

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HF

PE

HF

Unfortunately it seems to me that no matter what field you are in (even including those not finance related), you will run into the problem you describe, where among top ranks politics becomes more and more part of the game instead of actual job skill.

It sounds like you might want to give Enterpreneurship a try. Are you skilled enough to try to start your own PE business? HF sounds ok too, but I'm sure once you are high enough, you will also see politics at hand as well.

open up a hot dog stand....

no, just quit whining like a little bitch and work.

It's interesting, because a lot of people go into IBD because they're very analytical and hate the idea of going into a "sales" career. However, at the top levels of PE and IBD, the Partners/MD's are no more than glorofied sales people -- just like you said.

I would agree with some of the above (non- retarded/sarcastic) posts that HF / Asset Management is probably better suited for you. A friend works as a buy side research analyst and he describes his job as, "long term private equity investing in public markets". I would guess that this type of role has more analysis and less hand-shaking at the upper levels.

My experience working through the ranks, I have gotten somewhat removed from the pure analysis, but in no way does that mean I'm not still in the weeds. All it means is that I'm not poring through a trial balance and trying to tie out numbers to audited financials or trying to go through endless pivots to come up with proper drivers to a model. I'm very involved in the level above that, which is more around the actual valuation (working with operators, consultants, etc. to come up with the right value) and so are the senior guys at principle and partner. I've had partners ask me to send them financial models plenty of times and seen them really dig into the numbers (critiquing approach, assumptions, etc.)

With respect to advancement, unfortunately, no matter where you go, unless you start your own business, politics will be a factor. The one good thing about PE and HF is that if a guy is a star and generating stellar returns with his investments, regardless of politics, chances are he can be secure in his job.

If you're looking for an out, you might want to try taking a corporate finance job (similar to what CompBanker said) at one of your portfolio companies. I've seen many people in PE transition directly into one of their portfolio companies (VP finance, CFO, etc).

labanker:

I'm approaching the end of my third year as an associate at a MM PE fund. I'll either be promoted at year end or transitioned out. Getting promoted would be great in theory, but the trouble is, I'm actually becoming less and less enthused about the more "senior" (i.e. VP level and up) pe track. It seems you trade in modeling and memo writing for endless conference calls and plane rides to glad hand CEOs at target companies. Yes you might get more involved in deal negotiation or interesting things of that nature, but you become more and more removed from the pure analysis, which is one of the parts of the job I really enjoy.

Plus, advancement through the senior ranks seems to depend much more on polish and political maneuvering than investment and analytical acumen, which isn't really appealing to me. Finally, I actually have a fairly dim view of pe's future in general, as I increasingly view the pe "investing" style as glorified house flipping, which of course only works if there is someone on the back end willing to be the greater fool.

Bottom line, I'm starting to think it might be time to move on. The question is...to what? Anyone else in the same boat?

With you 100%. I'm a second year in MM PE and I am just plain old sick and tired of working on deals and find the transactional work that gets done as you move up the ranks to be really unappealing. And when / if you make it to the top, fund raising is pretty brutal and keeps our senior guy on the road all the time doing a dog and pony show.

It does sound to me like you'd be a good candidate for a HF if you're really enamored with the analytical side of things (but turned off by the senior level transaction work.) I know this is heresy on some level, but perhaps certain jobs within banking would be worth considering. People have trouble going back to the sell-side, but there are a ton of high-paying banking jobs that aren't just M&A-oriented.

Personally, I'd like to do something a bit more entrepreneurial. That could mean starting up something on my own or even just joining a growing company. I'm definitely keeping my ears to the ground for HF / ER type roles, but would jump at a less financial-oriented business role which would give me a little more freedom and opportunities for creativity. I often find myself feeling boxed in by my role in PE and am aggravated by the amount of fund management crap that needs to get done on top of deal work.

In my view, PE is the ultimate "sounds really interesting on paper, isn't all that fun in practice" career in existence.

That was sort of a rant, but just know that you're definitely not alone.

out of curiosity, is the drudgery comparable from VC to PE? concomitantly, how does the comp compare from VC to PE at the VP level? i've been led to believe that VC is more operational, but less pay.

I am in the same boat, so not much to add in terms of advice. I also know a number of other 2nd/3rd year PE associates who feel the same way, so you're certainly not alone here.

if you want to stick with finance, asset management. but i'd also recommend starting your own business. if the biz is successful that gives you the latitude to focus on what you enjoy. for example, you can start your own boutique and hire somebody to manage it while you work on analysis or whatever you enjoy doing within the firm. anyway, it's a bit of a leap, so strap your balls if you want to savor satisfaction.

Sales is my thing. I love putting lipstick on that pig.