Hi all,
Currently deciding whether it's worth to interview with Credit Suisse's Private Funds Group (PFG) after receiving an offer from one of Parthenon/LEK. These opportunities are all for full time and I am thinking (although not set) on moving into private equity at some point in my career hopefully without an MBA. Any thoughts on the comparison and CS's FPG group in general? Thanks in advance.
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Congrats on the offers! This is a tough choice because both firms are pretty much on the same level in their respective industry (if the US BBs are MBBs, then the EU BBs are the T2 of IB). You're also in a position where LEK and PEY have good exits to PE...
As someone in MC, I think MC itself would be a great choice and you learn a varied skill set that can help you in PE. At LEK/PEY you won't experience a shortage of DD engagements which always look good on your CV when applying to PE. I still think that the practical financial skills gained in IB may give you a bit of a leg up, but if you are drawn towards MC as a starting career, you could primarily aim for consultant-friendly PE firms after a couple of years.
The upside of MC is that if you decide not to do PE, it'll help you land more varied corporate roles with ease than IB which may be limited to financial functions.
Question is, what are you drawn right now based on what you think the day-to-day is like?
CS PFG is not traditional banking (it’s secondaries) and will not prepare you for traditional investment banking exits because you’ll be modeling pooled investment vehicles, not whole companies. Unless there’s a good chance of lateraling to a regular coverage/M&A/LevFin group I would take the consulting gig for the best shot at PE.
Which region are you in? Have worked at one of the firms you mentioned mate and can tell you PE recruitment is possible, but not nearly as rosy as almost everyone makes it out to be. Happy to share more thoughts
It's for the US region. Any insight into exit opportunities that you've seen at Parthenon/LEK would be greatly appreciated!
Parthenon and LEK will lead to way better exit opps outside of finance. Within finance I still think strategy consulting at a tier 2 firm is Slightly better than a somewhat esoteric group at a tier 2 BB especially when it comes to PE.
It comes down to what you value for your experience. Do you want to be at a bank dealing with big financial institutions and big money investors helping to raise money for funds. Or do you want to be in a more academic setting, sitting in a team room all day and night calling up industry experts, running surveys, performing secondary research and building decks all day for a PE deal on a pig slaughterhouse in Oklahoma.
I think this is very misleading. You could easily turn the scene around and ask "Do you want to be leading the high-profile strategic turnarounds of F100 companies with their CEOs or be stuck in an office at 1am looking through SEC filings for hours and plugging those numbers into an excel no one will actually see?". Both industries have their upside and downside, try to be objective.
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