Aca within a PE finance function to IB?

I am currently 19 doing the level 7 ICAEW ACA apprenticeship within the finance department of a MM PE firm. I will be 23 once qualified and want to move to front office. Moving internally is not an option as you need IB experience / MBA. Here are my options so far.

  1. Further education, MSc Finance from a top UK business school.
  2. Analyst position for newly qualified ACA’s in Front office including IBD (likely EB or Mm)/ Equity Research or private capital advisory
  3. Gain deal experience at big 4 / boutique consulting I know there are certain pathways that hire newly qualified aca’s in equity research and IB (especially EB like Lazard or Evercore)

I can leverage my PE experience, although within a finance function, have been involved in deals / fdd/ value creation, investor relations and fund accounting.

My worries come from me not having an undergraduate degree and not having enough deal related experience. Although I do also have 2 spring weeks working with a top Canadian bank in prime services Global Markets team.

Any tips of the best way to move to forward?

1 Comments
 

Quis facere sit dolores harum deleniti optio amet. Consequatur quia laboriosam dicta qui aut cumque. Eum odio modi ut vero reprehenderit suscipit nulla. Ut velit est soluta ut dolor ipsam error. Error maiores cumque ab velit ipsa harum et architecto.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”