FoHF a good start for a career ?
Hi, Option 1: junior at a FoHF or Option 2: postpone entry to the job market and go for MSc in Finance? Which one will give me better exits/opportunities? The FoFH is located in the US and has >5 AUM$, and the MSc will be a decent/well-ranked MSc in Europe (ESCP or SKEMA). I am interested to hear some of your takes on that 👍
FoF will almost always make it impossible to transition to a direct investing seat. Can be a good career if you enjoy it. Sometimes on the PE side it can get more complex with Co-investments, a small amount of direct investing, and secondaries - from there you can try and make argument you have the skills and have shot at boutique/lower market firms, but for the most part if it is a basic FoF and HF side, it will be nearly impossible to transition to a HF in an investment capacity. Could be set up quite well for business development / IR roles though.
Do not take the role if you really want to be in a direct investing seat anywhere - you aren't going to be learning how to analyze investments, rather you will learn how to compare managers and take measurements of performance / market exposure. Find another path in if you can, whatever that may be. Definitely not a bad career though
100% agree. I guess what I am debating is whether I would postpone job entry for the Masters options you mention. Euro bros chime in but I feel like a "more relevant" investment job will not be any easier to get from those schools. I would probably 1.) keep recruiting for something more relevant for full time (if indeed you want to go the investing route), 2.) take the job and self study financial modeling and try to switch at the junior level (this is possible but harder as you stay in FOHF), or 3.) take the job and plan to go to a target masters/MBA to make the transiton
To play devil’s advocate here - most people aren’t cut out for investing. Being an allocator or working at a fund of funds is the kind of cushy job that gets 75% of the benefits of the broader investing industry while only 10-20% of the work and stress. You won’t be marked to market every day and in 10 years will likely be making more than all of the “direct investing” hopefuls that flamed out after a couple of years an an analyst
This answer should get more love. Many people want the investing role because of "preftige" but are actually not suited to it or even worse may not actually enjoy the basics of this. Figure out these two things before you reject the FOHF offer and even if you find that isn't for you will have opportunities to pivot either immediately as a junior or later through grad school
haha yea amazing, I agree. I'd argue that you can always go to FoF from direct investing, not the other way round tho
What if, hypothetically, you got a job to work for someone like David Swensen tho (FoF/ endowments & foundations)
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