Hey monkeys, Ignore the title. I’ve been working in a mid market PE fund that is a sector specialist. I’m rounding up to 2 years and I’m trying to lateral into a HF. Dreaming of joining a pod but I’m not sure if it’s realistic with my background. For reference I joined the fund straight out of grad school - how can I position myself best for opportunities in the industry and is it even doable with my profile? If it matters located in London.
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Dreaming of joining a pod? You realise that’s the same as saying you’re dreaming of joining a boss you know nothing about given you don’t know what PM you’re interested in joining.
PE -> MM HF is fairly rare in the UK, but pods aren’t that elitist, we recently hired someone from an MM bank to our team. As long as you know what you’re talking about and can talk actionable ideas, that’s fine.
Would start reading up on markets and getting stock pitches (with models ideally) prepared. Ditch the PE mindset and think quarters.
I made the transition some time ago and happy to help! Feel free to PM me and we can have a chat!
Mind PMing me? In a similar situation and would love to chat as well!
Considering a similar move - can I PM you please?
Why was his comment removed?
Maybe try for an equity research associate role before making the transition to mm hf.
Lolol he’s not taking an ER associate role before moving to a HF. That’s just silly. There have been plenty of people who have made that move.
It's an increasingly sought after skill for MM platforms. BD reps at MMs are increasingly looking for analyst with PE background.
Why?
A) Been the norm for years stateside and has been working well
B) v focused work -> business acumen -> high % of time focused on deep fundamental research / ability to diligence + know how to carry yourself infont of mgmt teams after all those phase 1 / 2 meetings before taking the deal to IC. It sounds basic but you'd be surprised how many of these fresh faced P72 grads occupy meetings with with odd questions which shouldn't be directed to a C suite.
Needless to say, there are things to "unlearn" from PE as well. E.g. the need to know everything (you won't have CIM level info on drivers) + ability to sense probabilistic outcomes with more limited information set. Takes some time getting used to thinking in hit rate and slug versus needing to turn every stone in DD.
MF PE vs MM PE?
Won't matter unless PM has some type of brand bias (unlikely as the talent pool on this side of the pond is scarce as it is). You should spin MM as being v well-rounded, assuming your MM PE seat led you to be more intimately involved in PortCo stuff then you would at say a BX where it's arguably more IBD 2.0 at sub-principal level.
PE -> HF has arguably been more of a transferable skill in directional L/S where you focus on best ideas and constantly initiate / re-initiate on names through first principles type research rather then putting on L/S pairs based on incrementals within a set coverage universe. However that's not rocket science and you'll pick that up in 1/2 quarters under your Sr Analyst/PM. Having seen how companies operate inside out and market themselves will help you assess them "outside in".
Oh wow this was super helpful thank you! I am for sure very involved in our PortCos and have good deal exposure that I can discuss. But more importantly, I’ve had the opportunity to really learn everything there is about B2B SaaS companies (our focus). Do you think a next step is to reach out to the different firms (likely targeting their tech teams), or would headhunters also be an option (although I suspect they may be more hesitant to push my profile given not regular ~2 years in IB)?
Generally speaking it'll be similar to PE where its headhunter led (and to a lesser extent through personal recommendations). So the first step is to let the headhunters know that you're interested in making the move.
Be prepared for outline your rationale and reasoning for why PE vs L/S. Assuming you're a IBD/consulting + 2 yrs of PE it'll make sense as it's not that uncommon, but if you're more tenured the "why now" becomes pivotal.
MMs have dedicated BD teams. Whilst it's arguably hard to reach out to them directly, you can put yourself on the radar by submitting your CV online. You'll end up in the CV bank for ad hoc recruitment.
The headhunter route has the best return on invested time as they'll have an "in" with BDs and monthly/quarterly calls.
Once you're in the industry and known by the prime brokers and sales people you can approach it differently.
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