Hi all,
I am a non-traditional (4 years accounting undergrad, 2 years audit) first year analyst within a Big 4’s deals team and am exploring my exit opps a few years out. My goal is to work in PE.
I am wondering if I should focus on getting two years of banking at this firm or transfer to a more prestigious firm (BB, Big 5) in a year.
Is there a significant difference in Canada as to how pe firms view candidates from these banks?
How much more difficult would it be to land a spot at an MF or pension fund if I don’t transfer to a big 5 before?
thanks in advance!
It depends what team and pension you’re targeting, but there is no world where your life won’t be materially easier coming from a BB or big 5 coverage team
Definitely aim for big 5 IB transfer (doubt you can jump straight to globals from big 4). Don't know anyone at my pension that came straight from a big 4. There might be a few but the numbers are just that low where big 5 would be the logical step to increase your odds.
How is a transfer from big 4 to let’s say RBC or BMO perceived (total roughly 2 years banking experience) on a resume to PE? Are there any downsides?
It's probably just going to be perceived as most expect, you wanted a stronger exit than just from big 4 so you went to RBC/BMO. There shouldn't be any downside other than years at big 4 not being considered as valuable and hence being older/having more YOE than others at the same title level.
Big 4 -> Pension pretty difficult and UMM/MF PE virtually impossible.
LMM possible but it’s generally tiny firms with 5 people on the investment team from what I have seen.
But Big 4 -> BB very possible. Have seen a few people from McGill jump from Big4 advisory directly to BBs.
Congrats on getting out of audit and into the transactional side of a big 4. I made a similar move and ended up at a direct investing platform in Canada - so it is definitely do-able.
I'm assuming you're on the sell-side M&A team (not FDD/TS). If you're dead-set on a MF / Pension (working on very large/international deals), the jump will be difficult to make directly considering the big 4's practices focus mostly on the local mid-market. This results in building a very different skillset (but equally valuable in my opinion). That being said, I agree with cardboard that there are some groups that may be a fit anyway. You also see quite a bit of Big 4 -> MM/LMM PE in Canada so this also remains a possibility.
I don't think the hiring market is great right now, but after you've spend a year-or-so in the current role, I could see a move to big 5 being possible.
Keep in mind that PE is a very competitive space - there are a ton of really intelligent & hardworking people that don't break in. I would say don't underestimate networking as much as a you can and realize that a good portion of this comes down to luck.
Thanks for your comment! How difficult is a transfer from MM PE to pension or MF PE later down the line compared to say big 5 IB to pension/MF PE?
Maybe it’s best to build a strong two year record at the current firm then move to MM PE? Figure out if PE is my jam, grab an MBA if so, and jump to a larger fund later in life. I suppose this would present better than having two banks in roughly two years.
I have also come to realize banking to p/e has a 2-3 year runway before it becomes an “unprofitable” decision, hence the quick timing. If this assumption is misguided please let me know.
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