So now officially faced with the fact that I will no longer do direct, leveraged finance for a sub debt fund and I'll be moved to a fund of fund, I'm stuck in between a rock and a hard place...
Should I: - stick it out in fof - stick it out for anther year and then go for an MBA - leverage banking contacts and my LevFin experience to analyst lateral to a GS, JPmorg etc...
Any ideas?
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option number 2
What would anyone say here that would change your mind?
You (presumably) know the industry, the players and the relative likelihood of your options. If you want reassurance for whatever option you secretly want to choose, post it and I'm sure someone will be happy to tell you that's the best option to pursue.
well depends, do you want to do banking?
why isn't going to another fund working in mezz/lev fin an option?
Number 2... with #1, it seems you're pretty crushed with doing FoFs, with #3... I can't recall your story, but you moved out of banking for a reason. When you move back, how long would you stick around for? If you don't stay long enough, you run the risk of looking like you're flighty/not loyal for the next job.
Definitely Option #2. No question.
can anyone explain how it really works with FoF's in terms of career paths?
from people in the space i've gotten the story that if you're an analyst at a top FoF you learn a ton about a wide range of strategies, make tremendous manager contacts, and can EASILY roll out into a client fund after 2-3 years as a senior analyst on a PM track.
from people outside the space (direct HF managers, traders, and some off-market guys in IB and PE) i've generally gotten the message that FoF experience, even at the top shops, is not really valued because you're not actually making day-to-day trading decisions, for the most part not doing any fundamental valuation work, and once people get into FoF they generally are stuck (not that "being stuck" in and of itself is a bad thing if you like the work, but just for the purposes of flexibility that so many people seem to crave -- and mostly with good reason).
which side is right? what is the REAL deal?
What people outside the space are saying.
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