Tips on Successfully Transitioning from Execution (Analyst/Associate) to Origination/Generating Deal Flow (VP+) in PC?
Looking for some advice - I started last year as a lateral VP at a small credit focused fund. At my current firm, VPs have origination targets that is part of your review/comp. My prior firm was much larger and VPs were still solely focused on execution/deal captaining.
I like the aspect of originating, but the transition has been extremely stressful and I'm way behind on my yearly goal. Any advice?
My management has been helpful in guiding me to counter-parties to prospect/relationships to call on, but otherwise has been very hands off. I think since all the other people at my level have grown up in the firm, management doesn't really appreciate how much of a transition it is for me. I think I'm good at coverage - I like going out to lunch/drinks with folks, I try and call folks every week or two to talk markets, and I always ask if there is any way I can be helpful on deals but 99% of what I've gotten back so far is either trash deals that I desk kill or nothing. Our deals typically come from friends of the firm, PE firms, referrals from banks and large AMs looking for participants in their deals.
I wasn't expecting to be a rock star overnight and it's obviously a tough year for deal activity, but my manager keeps impressing how I need to generate more and it is stressing me out like crazy. I'm worried the thing I found attractive about this job is going to set me up for failure.
Currently making this transition, and a few things that have worked well for me (this is geared to a sponsor focused lending strategy):
In-Person Meetings: Cold emails have a low response rate, but telling someone I'm in their city either gets me a meeting, or a reply that they want to set up a call.
Time: It's taken me 1+ years to get in the "flow" of many groups. With time, people move around firms, so I have expanded my network like that as well. Doesn't help you much today, but just wanted to note.
Emerging Managers: Many of the top referral sources are already likely covered by your longer tenured colleagues. So I would recommend scouring industry publications, linkedin, etc to find new and/or spinout firms. They're less likely to be covered by your colleagues, and also less likely to have established lending relationships. A PE firm that has been around for 10 years probably has a dozen+ lenders calling on them, where a new PE fund likely has a lot less.
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