Advice - Making a move to the buy side

Hey all - long time reader and am seeking some advice.

Broke into a real crappy IB group at a lower mm firm in San Francisco. Was desperate to do IB in NYC so after a year I lateraled to a relatively new boutique investment bank. I was sold on the dealflow and the senior bankers (all from top bulge bracket's), and overall they just did a good job of selling the firm, culture, and most importantly strong deal flow for a newer shop. I'm about 7 months in, and miserable. I don't like the culture, and ultimately want to make a move to the buy side. How tough is it to break into PE/HF coming from a "no-name" boutique, with very strong deal experience? The boutique specializes in a specific industry - not sure if that is a good or bad thing as well.

Thanks in advance,

Thomas

5 Comments
 

In my experience it's a lot harder to break into buyside from boutique banks. I suggest you look to lateral to a BB or stronger MM bank.

 

I already lateraled after a year from a garbage mm shop in san fran, to a boutique that atleast has really good deal flow and well respected MD's..I feel like lateraling AGAIN after another year would look really bad. 3 different banks for an analyst stint?

 
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