Have always been interested in the public space, but followed the standard IB -> PE -> MBA path. I am graduating from my MBA in the summer of 2022 and looking at FT roles. Can go back to my pre-MBA PE shop, but more attracted by public markets. Before my MBA, I also had an offer at a MM HF (think Citadel, Balyasny, Millennium), but I did not see a 'cultural' match, so told them I was going for an MBA and agreed to keep the dialogue open.
Now looking at Long-only shops (T Rowe, Wellington, Capital Group, Fidelity, etc) as I appreciate the LT investment horizon and the stable career track. Primary question: how do they differ and what other shops should I target on my list? Primary focus is London btw, which is different from the US where this path is more common / desired / laid out.
Also, what is the value proposition to them / to me for someone coming from PE? What skills should I play on during interviews? How does recruiting look like? What does the career path / comp look like? I know it might take a while to go from Analyst to PM. Also looking at Tiger cubs, but needless to say not a lot of places available as they are basically non existent in London. Any tips are welcome!
Bump
Hey congrats on your accomplishments to date. Not sure I can help with all your questions but maybe on the value you bring, first off, a fair amount of those places do like to invest in private markets and seemingly have been doing more of that just given valuations in public markets and continued pressure on public market returns/interest rates in more run-of-the-mill sectors. Though you may not personally want to be a private market investor, the firms may appreciate the fact that you bring some of that experience / knowledge / skillset in house for them to speak to and learn from to the extent possible. Next, I think generally when a PE or IB person goes into publics, a fair amount of the value pitch is that you are used to doing deep diligence on investments prior to putting money to work. You are used to investing for long-term in deals where you can’t pull your money out for years at a time if at all. That is a solid skill set that public market funds like. It is sometimes hard for someone who only has invested in public stocks to learn/develop a deep due diligence and analysis skillset and avoid the “trading” temptation that very liquid investments offer. It’s like you have already learned solid habits when it comes to diligence, analysis and LT thinking that can be nicely applied to public markets and the value prop those LO’s like to offer their clients. PE guys have to be LT investors because they don’t really have the option to be so trading focused. With Public investors, they can be trading focused so it’s not always so easy to find public market investors who are Lt focused unless they come from very solid shops like those LOs and the like. I hope this helps…
Hold it
I didn't think it was possible to go from PE - B-school - AM.
Im IB analyst btw, but couldn't get any AM spots out of MSc, ultimately I was overrun by poor experience. I had passed CFA level 2 at the time. Is it really desirable or even possible for PEs to move to AM?
I hear. I do believe one person I know comes to mind now who did target undergrad - top bank - Umm PE - m7 mba - AM as far as I can tell. I think he may not be the norm as far as I can tell as most IB to PEs to mbas seem from what I have seen to go either back into PE or HF or maybe even go to corporate / start-up stuff. Not sure how common AM is but I think it is a possibility as demonstrated by that one person I believe that comes to my mind who has done it. AM in general is probably fairly small compared to PE/HF/IB/corporate/tech as far as I know.
Either way, best wishes and good luck :)
People definitely do. It's definitely a better combo of background skills than some senior LO analysts that I've seen, and far from a disadvantage. One senior guy at RCG comes to mind as someone who has done this, albeit without the MBA. As long as you're at a M7, you should be able to get some shots with the 2+2+2 background. GSB. HBS, Wharton, Booth, CBS in that order of doors opened by school name alone. Once you get in the door you gotta do the rest with your abilities.
Extremely helpful, thanks for taking the time. It confirms my thinking of what mindset LOs are looking for in candidates like me and it is aligned with how my investor mindset works. On the technical side, I assume that having very granular cash flow modeling skills helps as well as I also underpin most of my decisions with these. But that's another discussion.
Would you happen to have any insights on which of these specific LO funds are used to hiring people with my background?
Privates and Alts are becoming far more commonplace at traditional shops as they look for opportunities to create alpha. Per the previous comment, It's great you have that type of experience to bring to the firm even if you seek to stay in the public markets. It will help inform the investment committee perspective.
Hey I’m not sure if this comment / your reply was directed at me but I think it may be so I can respond and try to be helpful either way. I don’t have much direct exp with LO, but from what I know about them from following news, my network/friends that have gone to work for them etc, it seems like all of them do have appreciation for the PE skillset. Though I will say that for me personally it has been more common to see names like Fidelity and TRowe invest in privates as compared to the others maybe so they may be a bit more interested in a PE background. Additionally I have seen friends of mine go from IB/PE backgrounds to Fidelity, Putnam and MTS I think come to mind right now off of the top of my head though if I dug / thought more prob the others may too. All those places are solid from what I know. I think it may be about which one you feel the best fit / most comfort working at and with potentially. I would think if you are interested in networking with people at any of those firms that may be the best way to find a more organic fit if possible but I’m nowhere near an expert lol :). Good luck and best wishes :)
Hi,
I am someone a little further back in the process than you (PE analyst in London) but am interested in the public LO space and wondered where you did your MBA and what was the decisive factor as to why you chose it versus other programmes, baring in mind you wanted to do LO?
Unfortunately I have no data re post-MBA recruiting at LO funds in London as most hires I see to those funds are either out of undergrad or via lateral hire.
Good luck with recruiting!
Thanks! On my MBA, I was rather selective with the amount of programs that I applied to in order to maintain quality of my application. Honestly, the top 3-4 programs all seemed to place well into these roles (and less so with lower ranked programs). As most people, I did not get into all of them, so then narrowed it down on a location where I actually saw myself living for the duration of the program. The choice is then often made for you, so I would not over-obsess about what program is 'right' for you. As everyone, you do start telling yourself a story once you got in as to why the program was actually the best fit for you.
Bump
If you're graduating next year, what did you do for your internship this summer? Did you recruit with the LOs for the internship? Most of these shops get to know candidates during first year of MBA, so full-time recruiting in your second year without having gone through the internship-recruiting process in your first year will be extremely challenging.
Did an internship in a single manager HF that employed 'a private equity approach to public markets with a LT horizon in cooperation with management'. In the end, I felt they were still quite ST focused. Although they went far in their research process, it was not that PE like. LOs do the same amount of work or even more and actually do have a LT horizon, hence why I would be looking there. I initially shied away from LOs as I thought they were more hierarchical vs a HF, but found out that is probably not the case and you can have a lot of freedom to run your own ideas. That, and short ideas are just more difficult to find. I prefer to find good businesses, step in at a price you think is fair, with an idea of where it could move towards and stay in them for the long term. I realize very well I am coming from behind, but still want to go for it.
2nd year recruiting at LOs is dramatically different than 1st year recruiting. You may see some scheduled interviews in your school system, but most of them will be cancelled as the firms give out offers to their MBA interns. To the extent you recruited with the LOs last year, you should reach out now to any contacts you made, especially at firms where you had final rounds and/or secured offers. If you did not recruit with LOs last year, you will have an uphill climb and need to start networking immediately. Interning at a HF doesn't necessarily help you for the LOs you mentioned - you need to explain very clearly why HF is not right for you and why LO is. The recruiting process will be more intense than last year because they don't have an internship to evaluate you. Can be many, many rounds of interviews and pitches. It can be done if you are extremely driven to succeed, but you would be an exception to the typical process.
bump -- curious to hear what OP ended up doing? How did the interviews go & what career path will you be pursuing post-graduation? Thanks in advance & rooting for you!
Ended up interviewing for summer internships in Europe. Landed an offer at one of the names mentioned in my original post. Agreed with them that a potential FT start date could be straight after the internship.
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