Cambridge Associates vs Strategy/M&A at F500
Hi guys, first time posting here. Would like to seek some advice between choosing an offer from Cambridge Associates (Investment Associate) and a Strategy/M&A (Analyst) role at a F500 ($10-20B market cap). This would be my first job right out of college. Might take an MBA in the future but still undecided on that.
For CA, as you know, they are in the investment consulting business and this role will sit within their consulting team covering alternative investments.
For the strat/m&a role, workload is about a split of 50/50 between Strategy and M&A, and the direct boss (a Director) is ex-MBB. This role has high visibility within the corporate and it was made clear to me that their strategic growth plan will involve a big appetite for M&A, having already made several acquisitions.
In terms of exit opportunities, I am very much open to many options and not dead set on one path. Understand that these two roles will lead to very different exit options, but I would just love to have hear the thought process of you folks. In particular, is investment consulting any worth going into? Also, I definitely prefer M&A work more so than Strategy, hence I am wondering if an ex-MBB is the best person to work with/under in this context.
Appreciate any advice.
I'm just a senior but have been recruiting for a number of different industries so just my 2c. I think your reservations about your director being ex-MBB (and thus more apt for the strategy work) are a bit misplaced - you know for a fact that there's going to be a lot of M&A as part of the company's strategy.
As for exit opportunities, one basic thing to help you would be using LinkedIn to figure out where Cambridge Associates people move on to. You can use the filtering system to help find if anyone moved onto a dream company of yours from that role. Cambridge's own site says most people leave for either an MBA or to join a family office/client.
With alternative investments, I'm not sure how much exposure you'd get directly with specific PE/HF/VC firms - I'd love for someone to chime in if this kind of experience could lead to an exit to a small PE firm. I interviewed with an OCIO firm and I know that their PE analysts had a decent amount of interactions - not sure how it'd work at CA in your role.
I'm leaning more towards the F500, especially since the reviews for CA don't seem particularly stellar.
Thanks for the insights. From what I see, popular exits for CA alum are into investor relations and product specialists at banks. I would say very few make the transition to VC/PE. That said, CA does work with big name clients, so the interaction, I would guess, depends on how much you make of it.
Great if someone could share more.
Corp dev/strategy unless you have a dying passion for alternative investments. i've heard very mixed reviews from those who have worked at cambridge. F500 brand name + m&a/strat will provide a great foundation and lead to plenty of opportunities and/or b-school.
F500. It isn't close. Much greater earnings potential/upward mobility. Plus, you'll get a industry niche, which will allow for strong laterals.
Yeah M&A F500
I tried to transfer to that role within my former company, but it was extremely competitive. Mostly Ivy MBAs and ex-IB people who left IB for more chill hours.
You'll get some great experience.
Thanks for all the inputs. Much appreciated.
Happy to contribute and share more about my interview experiences.
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