Endowment and Foundations: Sloan Vs Booth
I am looking to enter the investment management space focused on private equity at a large university endowment, foundation, or sovereign wealth fund post-MBA. Pre-MBA experience is in financial sponsors IB.
For asset management recruitment, which program would you go to, Booth or Sloan?
I don't think it would matter that much. Definitely the MBA network would help you, and I sense the network at Booth would be bigger, but on the other hand, MIT is located in the northeast which might make networking easier in that region. I wouldn't count on on-campus recruiting for this transition though. I'd start reaching out to contacts at those types of places and get some feedback as those types of jobs are really filled by appointment.
MIT's location is a definite plus, but as you mentioned Booth has a large alumni network in the space. Honestly it might be a smoother transition to jump to a large FoF then to E&F. I have spoken with a few CIOs in the space and they indicated some experience in the fund of funds space would go a long way
It honestly makes no difference at all. Pick whether you like Chicago or Cambridge more.
They're both great so follow your heart. Neither has an enormous network (in what is a small industry) but both are very well respected so you'll get access if you come across as serious, even without MBA alum connections.
I led recruiting at an endowment and got into both, so I have researched this. Personally I wanted to go to a bigger school because the endowment I was at was in a college town, not a major city, and I felt my network was lacking, but I have family who went to Sloan and love it.
I think it's very important to show you've researched the space and network a lot. You have to take initiative to develop a network and find spots/convince people to take an intern rather than expect it to come to you. Start early.
Boston probably has easier access to more firms in the region, but you can always hop on a plane from Chicago. If you have a strong personal preference to end up in one region or the other, I would go with that. Good luck and if you have this choice, congrats.
Thanks! I know there is a lot more endowments in the Boston area vs Chicago (although CHI still has quite the offering) but I definitely connected with the students at Booth more. Split between the location vs the people (will probably end up at Booth tbh).
What is the typical background of those who recruited while working at the endowment? Mostly HBS/Wharton that did IB+PE would be my assumption
You'll see a much larger mix of backgrounds at endowments, not a lot of IB+PE folks in reality. It's much more important to be able to evaluate funds/fund managers than actual deals so the skill set is slightly different. As long as you network, it's not an industry that's too difficult to break into.
If you don't mind, how can one move from LO AM (5-6yrs of experience) to the endowment world without an MBA and what would the comp look like? I have my CFA and graduated from a target if that helps. Many thanks
You need to network your way in by coming across as credible in informational interviews. If people like you, they will put you in processes at their shop or their friends' shops when roles come up (which is very unstructured/one off at your level). You need to convince people (mostly implicitly) that you are passionate about the space, will be a quick learner on the process, judgment and relationship management parts of the job, and that you are a driven person who wants to do this, not someone blown out of their prior job who imagines this will be a haven (no one wants to take a chance on training up a reject). A lot of people try to do this and some make it - networking and convincing people you'd bring a lot to the party is key. I'd recommend reading and listening to a lot about the space - the annual reports of some leading endowments, the Swensen book, capital allocators podcast, etc.
I've been in a different role too long to comment accurately on comp beyond: it's varied by firm, it's rising from a lower base, it's less volatile.
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