Howdy all - first post!
I'm currently a second year ASO in a M&A advisory boutique (similar to Incentrum, Broadhaven, etc.)
Had my chance at recruiting before and dabbled a bit in PE / HF recruiting - mostly MM / LMM shops. Went through a handful of processes without an offer, but gave up very early on, as I just couldn't see myself being happier if I made the switch. My current bank is really a diamond in the rough, with honestly a pretty amazing WLB, great culture, and awesome comp. Only downside is lack of brand name / recognition. I would honestly be fine staying for the long run.
Unfortunately, as I begin thinking about family planning, I want to relocate to the West Coast (~5 or so years in the future), where my firm doesn't have an office. So I've now started thinking about what opportunities are out there. I will most likely stay at least until I'm VP. I don't currently know anyone that's made a switch out of IB once reaching VP. I would love to end up somewhere like a hedge fund or family office (either public or private investing is fine by me). IB is cool, but I don't think I'll find another bank with even close to the WLB I have now...and I would rather not go Corp. Dev.
Any advice?
Thank you all!
The only shops that would give you a shot would be smaller MM and LMM (I can't speak to the HF side but I would assume it's even harder). You would probably need to take a step-down in title (ex.1st year VP in banking -> 3rd Yr Associate at PE). If you want to go to the buy side suggest you do it now
Thanks - That's what I assumed also. I don't mind smaller MM or LMM to be frank. My biggest priority is just WLB and reasonable comp (wouldn't mind a 15-25% paycut to right now). Actual content of the job doesn't matter that much to me. There is nothing in this world I hate more than recruiting, so I really want the next job to be for life.
Corp. dev was something I considered, but it feels like the drop off in comp is just way too much. Plus, having worked with corp dev. people during my time in banking, they don't seem that much more relaxed. I still work with them on weekends and such, sometimes even when there's no deal going on...
I'm not trying to climb my way to becoming a legendary investor with millions and millions. I just want to be well off enough while having enough money to be able to be there for my kids while providing for their success (i.e. sending them to a top college).
Nothing wrong with MM or LMM the problem is that from what I hear is that the culture/pay/WLB can be a hit or miss. I have friends at LMM that work 9-6 (rarely any weekend work) while others have WLB as bad as an MF while making maybe $250k all-in. All this is to say is to really carefully vet your next employer if you're trying to optimize for WLB/pay else it can backfire
In 5 years wont you be at a director level? Assume you would have flexibility at that point in living where you want?
Depends. If I can just be remote the majority of the year from the west coast, then I'd probably just stay where I'm at, but this is not likely for a variety of reasons.
Get good enough that you be the person to open up the West Coast office. It’s a win / win - you can build something, you stay at- place you like, you live where you want and they get over time an incremental revenue generator. D2 is the right time to do this. It will take you going above and beyond though to be successful down this path
I 100% have thought about this as well and plan to bring it up eventually given most of our current clients happen to be located there anyways. I do have confidence that I can do VP / Director work fairly well. Already have experience doing that kind of role with retainer clients where the team is just MD / me / analysts and I'm the one coming up with ideas / analysis and presenting to clients.
I am, however, daunted by the prospect of sourcing new clients. I still have no idea how my MDs have built up the network they have. I'm not very good at networking, and in those projects where I was the main touchpoint with the client, I definitely struggled with building trust (I assume partly because they are 50+ year old executives taking advice from a 25 year old...)
Any advice on how I can go above and beyond to prepare for that D / MD type role would be appreciated!
Just get out there man. Not to say origination is easy by any means, but a lot of it is just showing up and being front of mind for clients. Every client interaction isn't a forum for you to come up with some brilliant strategic idea. Each is just a little step in getting to know each other and building trust. The advice I got was that at the junior VP level, there is zero revenue pressure so getting out there is just good practice. There is no need to pitch deals, position yourself for when one comes up, that sort of thing.
Why would anyone talk to a 20 something junior banker? Information is valuable. As bankers, we are glued to the markets, in the know on deals, that sort of thing. Operators are much more focused on running their businesses. Sure they'll know when a competitor does a raise or something strategic, but not to the depth we do. With that context, catching up to talk markets, relevant deals, competitors, the lay of the land is very mutually beneficial. Example, I bring up an acquisition a competitor did and talk through the financial metrics, they help me understand the strategic rationale from the operator's perspective. We both walk away with new pieces of info we can use elsewhere.
Where do you start? The easiest is people you've worked with on transactions. There are people exactly in your position on the client side who want to "add value" and move up - young, hungry corp dev person who wants to bring in deals, FP&A/strategic finance person who wants to be CFO etc. They are your best bet. 30 minutes over coffee costs you nothing and you both walk away with value. It's how I brought in my first client.
Are you in Chicago by chance?
No, NY
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