I am a mid-level VP in levfin. Help me chart a path to opportunistic credit
I am at a bulge bracket in levfin. Will be up for director this year.
Suppose I'm keenly interested in opportunistic credit. Marketing hairy single B credits and marking up preposterous K&E grids feels like solid preparation for the work. I'm also ultimately an investor at heart - I got into value investors club on my first try fwiw (if you know you know).
Anyway I recognize that I'm professionally a little long in the tooth for this move. What do you suggest? I'm subtly positioning myself to maybe move to our inhouse private credit team. anything else though? Perhaps a good headhunter for someone in my boat? Thanks
Bump
Opportunistic public or private? Neither will be easy but private will be easier given you already have contacts/network built in the space from your day job. Public might mean networking and going for a smaller startup/launch fund than you'd prefer otherwise but hard to prove value against a guy who's pitching 5 ideas from his day job and follows markets actively. HH won't be super helpful on public but maybe private you could show value add as an originator/sourcer?
Good luck!
Hey I could only move to a private credit role. I've done plenty of high yield, but my skill set and experience lend themselves way more private debt.
It looks like a handful of people on LinkedIn have made the switch from banking to credit at my level, so that gives me some optimism. I personally know a couple people that have done so as well.
Guess I'll just keep my eyes open and jump on opportunities when they present themselves...
Got it. I think MF path unlikely just given the competition for those roles and you'd be more senior. I think best advice would be to network and position yourself as a guy who can source opportunistic deals. Underwriting isn't really a differentiating skillset past 20s but sourcing is.
And you're right - happens very often so you should feel encouraged!
You won’t get a shot at VP level roles for top PC roles.
Will have to go to smaller shop or take senior associate title
Will be tough to lateral in this hiring market. Will be tough to lateral in any hiring market if you are planning to target VP level opportunities at MF/UMM and maybe MM in T1 cities
Joining your internal private credit team is probably the cleanest. Won’t have to take a level hit, lean on strong internal political capital and then can move outside of your firm in a couple years with buyside experience into normal way private credit / opportunistic credit shop without a huge titling hit.
Seems the internal move is going to be the best move for you here. As senior as you are, gonna be a hard sell for a third party to take a bet on you. Make the internal move, build a track record for 3-5 years, then move freely about the PC world. Sounds like you're aware you're competing against people who have been in PC their entire careers at this point.
Also, K&E can shove it with those terms
limited demand for senior underwriters. A bank would already have ample originations folks in pc team - what is his pitch vs. a 28 year old cheaper vp
You’re right. But my advice is applicable to the situation today. Not the potential situation in 5 years.
How would one move internally to private credit?
Who would I speak to to make this happen - HR or the hiring manager (VP) in the team?
How do I do it while minimising risk of souring things at my current team?
Would love some advice here please if anyone has a spare minute!
I would like to think that moving internally if you have an investments/PC arm that dabbles in opportunistic would be the best, also because it provides a "safer" institutional ground to warm up to the new role. But it's always sensitive to ask to move - I guess I would first try to informally network with a few people there, then their head then see if there's support on their end to make the hop
HR would be the last to know, only once you know it's effectively a done deal and both teams are in agreement
It's very likely to get sour anyway as MDs don't like giving away headcount and even worse so if you're actually good/liked
Best to recruit in parallel for outside just in case things go south
I am a lefvin senior associate looking to make the same move. Sometimes I am overthinking it - perhaps staying on the sellside is good enough - at a good bank you have a better sourcing platform and more room for a career, maybe? How did you rationalise making the jump as a senior vp? Lifestyle and passion?
Also, how do you go about preparing, beyond your daily grid work etc? Have you stumbled into any good resources or interview prep?
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