Incoming FT analyst from a top target school, wondering if I can get looks at decent UMM funds. Assuming MF is definitely out of the question.
Previous exits aren’t very promising but the firm is definitely on an upward trajectory. Does this help me in getting looks at better firms given reputation tends to be fairly sticky?
What is the best course of action for my situation? I’m also considering lateraling ASAP for better exits.
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Question comes up every year so I'd recommend taking a look at past threads. Extremely group dependent, stark contrast in terms of top tier groups (REGAL, FSG, etc.) and random groups (PubFin, DCM, etc). If you can guarantee a good group you should be fine. In this market any job is a good one, good luck!
Thanks for the insight! I’m very passionate about a specific industry so ended up in a “mid-tier” group at Wells, hoping the target school background at least makes up for that a bit.
Edit: sorry about the spacing. Don’t know why it’s formatting like this
Let me put this into prospective. <p> </p> First off, you should be patting yourself on the back for having an offer to work in investment banking. Many people who got cut from their top BB/EB internship are scrambling to find another role somewhere, including WF. The fact that you have an offer is amazing and that should comfort you a little. <p> </p> I say this because right when the internship ends, everyone always just jumps to “it’s MF or bust”. <p> </p>Now to answer your question:
Wells Fargo has placed better recently than they have before. In years past, you’d be lucky to see a small handful of analysts transition to a PE shop that people know the name of. Now it’s slightly different. Genuinely think any MM shop is available for Wells and that UMMs are obtainable. I’m not saying it will be a cakewalk, but if you do a quick LinkedIn search, you will see that there have consistently been some landing HIG and some recently landing GTCR. These are great shops with reputable names and honestly, unless you’re only concerned about having a higher associate salary than the other losers on this site, I don’t see why you can’t be happy with GTCR. It will be much easier for you to land these coming from a top target school.
If you are really set on a MF, then you may want to consider lateraling. But you may also want to consider thinking about what it is you really want and if lateraling before your 1st year ends is really what will make you happy.
My advice: Stay at WF and grind your on-cycle prep to land a good reputable firm that you will be happy with. If it happens to be MM, there are always chances to move upstream if you’re really talented. If it’s UMM, you may end up at a MF after all. People get caught in this stressed out spiral of “oh no my firm name isn’t Goldman C**ts I’m screwed for life I’ll never amount to anything and my friends will think I’m a loser.” You might find a MM that you really like and grows fast. All of a sudden, you’re getting substantial carry from a well performing MM fund<p> </p>Hey, thanks for the detailed response here! I'd definitely be happy with a fund like GTCR or comparable and appreciate the perspective.
GTCR is basically a mega fund but in Chicago…
PM if interested
Thanks for the offer! Could you shoot me a PM since you're currently anon? Happy to send if you come off anon as well.
Any chance you could PM me too? Have a few questions
What is the top target? Honestly some banks target schools are not impressive and just a regional pipeline.
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