Achieving WLB / Pay - Does The 250k/40hr Work Week Exist?
Fellow monkeys,
As the title asks - does the 250k / 40hr work week exist as an exit opp after doing 4 years in IB/PE? I understand it's definitely achievable once you get more senior, but looking for something that is actionable for PE folks who are burnt out after their associate programs.
Corp dev / IR / etc. have been named as attractive exit opps on this forum but my read has always been they make high 100s all-in and still often have tough weeks / deal sprints.
Is my search for a 250k / 40hr work week / with 4YOE a pipe dream, or is there hope? (open to switching industries)
Following
i know many product managers / program managers at big tech that make more than that and are a lot less qualified than 2+2. google / meta / etc. Get out at 5-5:30 on the dot, don't check their phones after hours
Yes, this is called any random corporate job in Switzerland
I keep hearing this but is that reall the case? I’m moving to eu in a couple years and wondering if I work in Zurich how good the pay really is
Yes, that is indeed the case. Good luck immigrating to the country though
Definitely possible, sweet spot is VP level role in the middle/back office or work in insurance. Here are some jobs my non-tech friends are doing.
AVP level ops role at Jane Street, $200k - $250k TC. JS/Citadel makes so much money even their ops guys get paid. Hours are solid 40.
VP level Portfolio Manager at credit fund or a bank, 300k. Title is misleading, this is not a investing PM position. Deal teams will originate/structure loans and you deal with everything post close, managing a portfolio of loans and conduct monthly reporting/waterfall. Since you only come in post deal close your hours are mostly 9-5. Month end/quarter end can get busy.
Middle office VP at Apollo/BK/KKR, 250k - 300k. Depending on your role, you can work 40-60 hours, but nothing crazy like IB/PE.
Senior Underwriter for M&A or Credit insurance at reinsurer, 250k to 300k. Can get busy at times, but pretty chill generally. This is the equivalent of front office in insurance, but insurance in general pays less than comparable finance roles.
Actuary at insurance company, 200k to 250k, 20 - 30 hours, the catch is u gotta waste 5-6 years taking really hard actuarial exams, essentially CFA x 3.
Will second the insurance comment, did my first internship with an insurance company’s investment team. Assistant PM’s were clearing upwards 250k and were working 40 hours a week. Such a chill job and great team environment but would recommend later in career.
Second this. Did a summer internship at a reinsurance broker. One of the firms best brokers just turned 40 and was clearing 500k
Just curious about transitioning from a front office role to ops/middle office side for PE & HFs especially. Maybe I'm wrong but wouldn't the hiring manager be skeptical or confused about why someone with an FO background is trying to join ops? How do you effectively communicate/frame your interest & exp. for those roles with a completely different background?
Not sure about pe/hf -> ops, but a lot of people on the s&t side will exit to tradeops/middle office role when they hit a certain age. less hours, not as intense of work, lower chance of cuts, etc
Yes - after IB / PE you are competitive for f500 corporate jobs (corp dev, strategy, fp&a, biz ops) at the manager / senior manager / associate director level that should pay $175-225K all in cash comp + some stock. I know some folks who got gigs closer to $250K. There are plenty of PE portco roles out there that pay that much for corp dev or fp&a professionals.
Whatever you do, please do not take an FP&A senior financial analyst job that pays $90-100K after working in IB and PE lol. Find people who recognize that 4 years of IB / PE is not the same as 4 years in some fp&a gig and will consequently pay you appropriately and give you the right seniority. You have to aggressively network and approach finding these opportunities with the same commitment you had to finding a job on the buyside. It is not easy but it is very realistic if you put in the work.
FWIW, in tech, in the environment of the last year or more, as an IB + PE tenured candidate, I submitted probably…30+ apps on LinkedIn for corpdev / strat / finance and didn’t get an interview on a single one of them.
Only feedback I got, was that they wanted vp-ish level candidates with prior experience in Corp dev etc. roles.
So that’s been fun.
Can you get an intro or referral into a company? I feel like submitting on LinkedIn is a bit of a blackhole, no?
To be honest that isn’t surprising at all. You need to network aggressively to find a quality corporate exit op not just apply online. It takes the exact same amount of effort as recruiting for a HF or a lateral PE gig. Believe it or not, most people in corporate America have no idea what Private Equity is and just assume it’s like a senior financial analyst gig in fp&a, so you need to learn to speak their language and sell the transferable skills from the job. Similar to practicing for PE interviews, your story needs to be simple and compelling for them to understand just how much responsibility you had and how technically sophisticated you are.
You should also look beyond tech and at all F500 companies (even the boring ones). Tech is obviously in a bad place right now but there are other opportunities in other industries that meet OPs criteria for what he wants in a post PE role.
heard that google prefers consultants over IB / PE folks, especially MBB consultants. The JD might say that IB / PE experience but they actually prefer consultants. And also, you probably need a referral / to be HH in
Stumbling upon this post now but do you think this is still true in late 2025? I'm assuming closer to $250k was tech and even 175-225 seems hard now after seeing comp ranges of manager / senior manager roles as low as low 100s.
Yes - I know multiple people with offers in the $175K-225K all in cash range recently. Anything that pays less than that is likely a bad opportunity - compensation is part of culture after all. I think if anything the range has moved up.
There’s a group at UBS that works 40-50 hours a week for IB comp. UBS being Swiss means high job security too
lol, not right now. They are laying off people every month after absorbing CS
I’ve achieved this in LMM PE. 6 YOE, $250k working 40-50 hours. Will make $350k starting this summer after my promo.
What geography?
Tier 2.
So, COL is still quite high, which can be frustrating considering peers at other shops are making significantly more. However, for the hours I personally think the tradeoff is worth it. The work is more interesting to me than anything else that would offer similar hours, plus I retain significant upside (though we all know carry is a big 'TBD,' especially for me, as you can imagine a fund with these sort of hours isn't exactly hungry for gangbuster returns).
LO AM and that can be much higher (and potentially > PE). issue is hard to break in and dependent on LO
Does this only apply to the well-known top LO AMs (Wellington, T Rowe, Fidelity, PIMCO, D&C)?
For someone coming out of IB/PE, what kind of hours / comp / progression could they expect?
Family office.
4 YOE, 375, 50 hrs / week
IB > PE > this opportunity?
Yes
Can I PM you?
My dad is a C suite for a manufacturing company and makes $3mn~ with ~40 hour weeks. Just gotta grind for 25 years
Very helpful comment
Shouldn't private banking (UHNW) roles also clear this comp easily at 40-50 hours with further comp upside if particularly successful at building a client book?
Doesn’t even have to be private banking at an institutional shop. Private wealth management for a single (U)HNW individual can well clear this comp as well. Basically a mini allocator, just have to know a really rich guy really well…
Commercial Banking is also a good exit opportunity for the right person. Low stress, 40 hours/week with no weekend work, and TC is $250-400k for a relationship manager
Long-only funds pay 300-600K for people out of IB / PE with very good WLB
Is this only for the top well-known funds (ie very few spots)? Is 300-600k achievable right out of PE or is that a post-MBA level?
The top LO AM firms (Capital Group / Wellington) are paying $350-400k for 1st year post-MBA Investment Analysts right now. The only catch is they make exceedingly low amount of hires (10 a year) so it's super tough to get into. Once you get in though you're cruising for life. Experienced Analysts (5-10 YOE) are making high 6 figures and PM's are making low-to-mid 7 figures working like 45-50 hours weeks since it's a public markets investing role. I think there's a few Research Associate roles (the position right under Investment Analyst) that I've seen them post that are range from 150-250k a year that are for pre-MBA candidates for so maybe go check that out.
Only other jobs I really know of are getting lucky in tech but that's very circumstantial and obviously not very guaranteed. Also corp dev/finance/strategy positions in tech are more difficult to get than most people might think.
I make >$300k cash and work maybe 15 hours a week on average
what type of work do you do?
MM PE
Where?
Move to a secondaries fund or wait another two years and move to a traditional PE allocator role or an OCIO role
I honestly don't think there's a role out there that fits this dimension.
300k at a opportunistic credit fund as associate 1. Work 60 hours. You’re wrong.
Can you share some details around fund size and your background prior?
del
Certain Sales, BD and investor relations jobs yes. Lots of asset managers out there with them
Deffo doable in VC
Yeah it's called corp dev or BD at a scaled company ($5b+ EV). Super common and not a particularly hard interview process on either side.
Are these still available in this market?
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