Offer Decision Help! Which offer to take? End goal MFPE

Hey all, would appreciate some advice here, in the midst of this recession I couldn't convert my internship and am now stuck between deciding between 2 offers:

Investment/Acquisitions role at a top 50 REPE firm

Pros: big firm, name brand, strong possiblity to exit to a BX/Starwood in the future after 2/3 years

Cons: siloed into RE, may never go back to traditional PE

M&A Analyst offer at a small boutique investment bank

Pros: more generalist, possible to lateral to bigger boutique or MM

Cons: it is a micro boutique, unheard of name, literally about like 2 tiers lower than FT Partners, 50 man shop

For context, I interned at a top BB (M&A group) this past summer but unfortunately didn’t get a return offer.

My end goal is to break into a megafund PE shop down the line. Is megafund PERE my only option now? 

If I do the math... it would take about 2 to 3 laterals to even go back to a BB, by then I would have spent 6+ years on the sell-side. Can you even do on-cycles when you are 30+

Which one should I accept?

REPE
53% (8 votes)
Boutique IB
47% (7 votes)
Total votes: 15
3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

A couple of things:
- it’s really hard to get hired at a MF, even if you’re at a top bank / group
- spending 6 years on the sellside is not that bad and PE will still be available
- you’re likely not going to go down the traditional path, so expect the time for you to get into a buyout shop to take a bit longer than you’re expecting

If you don’t want to do real estate then don’t do it, but if you’re open to trying it, then go for that if you want a big shop. The M&A shop might be great experience too depending on the caliber that they actually operate at. For example, I’ve worked with some 100 person boutiques before that were more polished and sharp than my firm, who was a larger BB. So figure that out. If it operates at higher caliber then could be good to get deal experience then try smaller PE shops

 

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