What're are realistic exit opps for Valuations (D&P, Big 4)

This is a complicated question. I had an AMA that went into greater detail but unfortunately it was hijaked by trolls. That said, the exits vary somewhat dramatically by group. Big 4, with the possible exception of EY (haven't interacted with them) is broken down by industry vertical: TMT, Life Sciences, Financial Sponsors, Complex Securities (CLOs, RMBS, etc.), Aerospace and Industrial 's, real estate, etc.

Those that work for financial sponsors have a greater probability of exiting into PE and those that work in Life Sciences have a better shot at CorpDev/boutique strategy consulting. Life Sciences will give you a shot at VC while Compex Securities won't. I could go on but I think you get it.

If I had to generalize, I would categorize the likely exists as follows, in order to descending likelihood:

• Middle office valuation at an Ares/Blackstone/lesser known HF sort of place - about 40% (less likely if you work in Life sciences)
• IB - about 25% (mostly boutique and MM but there are some BB placements. This isn't sector specific since most IBs are structured by industry vertical as well)
• ER - about 10% (seen placements into Jefferies, Guggenheim, Susquehanna, etc)
• CorpDev about 10% (much more likely for life sciences)
• Actual PE/VC/HF/A&M - about 5% (almost exclusively from financial sponsors and real estate valuation groups)
• Strategy consulting about 5% - (absolutely no MBB. I've never seen it)
• Something else - 5% (FP&A, accounting, treasury, retail financial analyst, etc.)

I should note that this does not consider bval to bval transfers, which is obviously the most likely exit. The list only considers exits from bval into something else. The list also considers the bval industry as a whole. For example, the list cites that about 5% go into PE but this is a very common exit for those in real estate valuation groups. The thing is that those groups tend to be very lean and thus only make up a small portion of the industry.

There are some nuances here. For example, I mentioned that MBB placements are basically unheard of. That said, if you work for Deloitte bval in NYC, you'll frequently be staffed on Monitor engagement (if you're good). You'll work for Monitor partners, in the Monitor building, etc. This is obviously advantageous for those looking to exit into strategy. So while MBB is basically unheard of, exits to LEK/Parthenon aren't.