Just wanted to hear some opinions on the pros and cons of going into banking first versus joining Ares / SLP / Apollo straight out of undergrad.
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I was/am in the same position as you, and I turned down a MF PE fund's summer analyst offer to accept an offer at an EB (same one as you) for the summer so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I will outline the reasons that I chose banking below.
First off, Apollo doesn't hire PE analysts out of undergrad, and instead places their PE summer analysts at Evercore for FT typically. I think Ares doesn't hire undergrads as well, but I may be mistaken. So I presume you mean SLP.
I think the pros of taking banking include a more established recruiting path to the buy-side if that is what you're after, the larger analyst class experience (I didn't want to be one of two people 25 in the office), and more optionality. I personally am not sure whether I want to do PE, work at an HF, or stay in banking for the long term. Taking PE out of undergrad puts you directly on one path. Additionally, most PE firms hire full time as opposed to almost exclusively out of their summers like banks do, so if you spend a summer in banking and want to switch to PE, the opportunity is certainly there.
On the PE side, objectively, most would say the work is more interesting. You probably will get paid similarly if not slightly more for roughly 5-10 fewer hours of work per week. From what I've heard in my conversation with senior people, since more PE firms / HFs are hiring out of undergrad, there is an increased perception that the best talent goes straight to the buyside (at least at HW) so "prestige" is certainly higher. If you are really interested in PE long-term, you should definitely start there.
For me, I wanted the optionality that banking gave me and the experience of being part of an analyst class, and that was more important to me than "losing two years" if I decide to end up doing PE long term.
I know for a fact Ares PE gave out two SA offers to Canadians and both have turned them down. Thanks for the info though!
This has been discussed to death on these forums. My opinion: If it's an offer from one of those firms you mentioned, take the PE offer. I don't agree that banking offers more optionality than PE as a first job, especially if it's at a reputable place. For the record, I went straight to PE from undergrad and didn't have trouble finding opportunities in other areas.
?
PE straight out of Undergrad or IB 2 years then PE (Originally Posted: 06/29/2011)
After tons of networking, got lucky and landed interviews at a few middle market PE firms.
The MM PE firms are quite small (4-10 people), but they gave me a proposition thats had my head spinning; 3 month internship then full-time, which is contingent on performance. PE straight out of undergrad sounds amazing. What I want to know is if its the smartest thing to do, I know IB teaches you some invaluable skills but I feel like there is a trade off if I do PE straight out of undergrad and miss out on the IB analyst 2 years
What would you guys do ? MM PE straight out of undergrad or MM IB 2years then MM PE then MBA. I still want to get an MBA and i'm thinking MM PE 2 years, lateral to another MM PE firm then MBA.
Also what would compensation be like for a 1st year analyst at a 4/10 man MM PE firm ($500mm) ?
Congrats on the interviews. Networking pays off big time.
See how these interviews go first (kick ass/land offers) then reevaluate. Keep in mind doing PE out of college for 2 years, a lateral to another PE firm will be difficult without IB experience. Obviously if you have nothing else take the PE gig. But if you are landing interviews through networking, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get atleast a couple IB interviews.
I'd say, no-name boutique/MM IB MM PE decent MM IB legit MM/boutique/BB IB
From kids I know at 5-10 man PE shops all in pay is 85K+ for first year analysts (these positions are rare), hours are 9-6pm on avg with the occasional 9,10,11pm,12ams once you get closer to a deal. Then again it's all dependent on the firm. I'm in the southeast and there is a 4ish man firm here paying 65K all in for a first year.
good luck.
i would go IB unless it was a well known PE
Top PE vs BB IBD (Originally Posted: 10/28/2012)
I have accepted an offer to join as a 1st Year Analyst next year after the summer internship. The platform is great and, most importantly, the team is really nice.
Currently interviewing with a top mega PE fund (one of these premium firms).
I am not saying I will definitely get the PE offer, but I am simply not sure if it's even the right thing to do? Is it a bad idea to jump into buyside private equity without a solid modelling and transaction experience?
Would much appreciate your insights!
Traditional, IBD -> PE. But if you want to do buy-side, why go to a bank? Might as well get your foot in the door asap.
You're a non-target, so I wouldn't worry about getting an offer.
Wow, what a dick. If he was able to get a BB IBD offer as well as an interview for the PE fund, it's not that huge of a stretch if he does well. Why would they have given the interview in the first place if they cared so much about him being at a non-target?
If it's a top fund, this is a no brainer.
I'm just telling it like it is. Is anyone going to prove me wrong with an example?
i'd be surprised if this was not a troll post.
im with btbanker. its a stretch. with that said i wouldn't back out of the interview process. don't worry about not getting solid modeling experience at a PE firm. If this is Blackstone PE/Carlyle of the like you will get modeling experience.
unless this BB offer is GS TMT or MS M&A. i would not back out of the PE interview.
mfs regularly filter out bb candidates from non-targets in their recruiting fwiw.
bb ibd offer and megafund offer is not even in the same ballpark, its an entirely different game. any idiot can do m&a (and many do), mf pe is a different ball game.
these gus give out 1-2offers per year and there frankly is no reason to take a chance on someone when you can be as selective as you like.
mind blowing amount of monkey shit in this thread
yo, that's TPG SF, right?
Kind of had the same situation... figured BB first might still be better...
Ask the dude gave you interview that how long he spent in GS...
I think a non-target made it to BX couple years back but he was insanely smart and I don't mean math nerd smart
To Ib or straight to Pe? (Originally Posted: 06/24/2015)
Hi guys,
Quick background
Going into final year at university. Spent a year long internship at a mm advisory boutique in my third year.
Now that I've finished and the time applying for graduate jobs is creeping up, I was wondering should I go to Ib (and to what extent will that year internship help) and what would the chance I could go straight into pe? This is because I, like many ultimately want to go into pe and so would like skip out the grind at an ib if I can
Cheers
Apply everywhere. Worry about this decision when/if you have offers to choose from
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