PE IR vs MM Corp Banking

Hi All,

Need some career advice. I am currently in an asset based lending group within a super regional (BMO, PNC, etc.) in a collateral monitoring role (First year out of school, semi-target, low GPA). Currently considering joining a mid-sized private debt firm (11B AUM) on the investor relations side. The role would be typical investor relations like fielding questions and building IRR models. The fund said after around 2 years I could make the transition to front office which is my eventual goal. If I stay with my current bank I will move to the underwriting group in the next 4-6 months working primarily with sponsor backed MM companies. Is it worth taking the IR job as a "step in the door"? or should I stick to my current employer and join underwriting and try to make the transition to front office then? Is PE IR a dead end that will stop me from recruiting for other FO roles later down the line?

Comp for the debt firm would be about 30% higher than my current comp and in a much lower COL area.

5 Comments
 

ABLable, hey, look at the bright side, at least you didn't get a ton of monkey shit thrown at you...here is my best guess on threads that might be helpful:

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If those topics were completely useless, don't blame me, blame my programmers...

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think it's very unlikely you would move from IR to the investment team. if you're interested in IR or business development, then it could be a good move. but don't expect to network in the investment team.

 
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MM leveraged lending to PE firms IMO is honestly very interesting work. I work in CB and have done a few PE backed deals, although the majority of them go to our actual leveraged lending group.

Personally, I'd take MM Corp Banking, esp if it's BMO. BMO's sponsor group is rock solid... I've ever seen a few guys go to LMM PE funds from that group.

 

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