IB vs Project Finance

I have a new opportunity to pursue renewable project finance (think DESRI), but I'm unsure if I should take it. The work seems much more interesting, and I'd basically wear many hats associated with both planning/executing operations of the firm's projects and also the financing side of things. However, I'm worried that I would be 'stuck' or pigeonholed to some extent if I went this route. It isn't quite an investment role, and I'm really not sure what the trajectory for this type of role looks like.

My alternative is to go do IB for a couple years before hopefully transitioning into PE. This seems like a safer route, and IB is much more generalizable, but I want to get others' thoughts here.

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If you are truly interested in renewables, the DESRI gig is a great intro to the industry and how renewable assets are financed. DESRI is also a premier name in the industry. The career path from that type of role could vary from moving up within the organization, moving to a commercial bank doing PF, moving to a renewables focused credit fund or moving to an power/renewables equity investment shop. Investors and lenders like folks who start at developers because they typically have a really in depth knowledge of the risks and key areas of diligence for these types of assets and companies. It may take a little more work to land one of those seats vs. coming from traditional IB, but certainly not impossible. Another thing to consider is that many developers have internal M&A teams that are very active in acquiring projects. That would be a natural move as well.

All that being said, if you aren't sure you want to be in renewable PF, it is a very niche industry and knowledge base. You will gain strong excel skills, but you probably wouldn't be able to lateral into an IB Associate or non-energy related role from DESRI.

 

Just do the IB route rather than renewable energy. Very few people enjoy the sector, there are long hours, a particularly long learning curve and you have to actually be really smart.

 
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