All,
I finished 3 years as an analyst at a top boutique (BX, Lazard, Moelis) and joined a well-regarding pe fund of fund doing primary, secondary and co investments. I had the option to join a direct shop (a really good one but not much better in life style), but after 3 years of banking i was burned out and lacking a clear direction of what i really want to do, so i took up the fof which gives me a good work/life balance and a chance to take a break and think about next steps.
After 3 weeks into the job i'm having a slight sense of regret. I mean, work here is interesting. I get pitched to really impressive GP's for their new fund raising efforts, go to important meetings and nice dinners, etc. I still do some valuation work, spread comps, simple models, but I miss working at the company-level vs. the fund manager level. I sort of regret that I didn't take a bit more time and find a direct pe firm that suits me better.
Anyway, I'm wondering if it'd make sense to apply for Business School for 2012 admission (will apply R2 in January). My rationale is that this could be a good time to apply, given that i won't be in fof for too long (1 years) and can still justify moving to a direct pe shop after and MBA. I can still say that I left after 1 year because I realized that I still want to do direct investments, rather than doing fof for 2 years then MBA.
The only thing is that the timing is a bit tight. I haven't taken the GMAT, need to write essays and get rec's between now and end of Dec. I could see that the quality of my application will be better given more time - as in to apply for 2013. But then i feel like i'll be a bit too 'mature' with 5 years of work experience and at 29 years old (don't ask why, started school late and some other reasons).
What do you think? Does the story of leaving fof early for MBA and to pursue what I really want make sense? Or should i just stay put for 2 years (and also to avoid pissing off my current firm) and try to come up with a better application?
Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts
Is it an option for you to explore opportunities at direct investment private equity firms while you're at the FoF, as opposed to after b-school? Lateral spots open up outside of the standard recruiting cycle and since you have experience at a top boutique, you should be very competitive. A buddy of mine was a third year at a middle market IB and got picked up by a multi-billion $ value PE shop for an immediate start mid-year (i.e. during the winter). Might be an option worth exploring and would save you a good amount of time/money.
It's def. an option to recruit again for direct positions (and its going to piss off the current employer big time), but I think i'd like to go back to school. the question is either apply this year or next. The end goal is to have a shot at post MBA direct PE positions. I am just not sure if staying in fof for two years is too long and hard to switch to direct investing even after business school..
bump
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