Choice internship -> MF PE generalist or Infra PE/M&A to break in Infra PE in London?
Hi everyone!
I'm (extremely) fortunate to have received three offers for a 6-month off-cycle internship in France:
- The first is at a European MF in generalist PE (think EQT, CVC, Apax etc.).
- The second is with a major Canadian pension fund (think CDPQ, OTPP, etc.) in infra PE.
- The last one is at a MM bank in their infrastructure team (think BNP, DC Advisory, Nomura, etc.).
I aim to break into infra PE out of my master degree (I study at a top Grande Ecole like HEC/ESSEC/ESCP + I meet diversity criteria), and ultimately, I aspire to secure a summer internship in London at a top infrastructure shop (I'm really keen on Macquarie MIRA, but I'm also considering BBs' P&U and Infrastructure teams).
Which option would be the best in order to increase my chances and achieve my goal? I think the MF would be a strong addition to my CV in terms of brandname, but perhaps having experience in infrastructure might also be beneficial when applying for summer internships.
FYI, I have 8 months of internship experience working as a consultant in a very small firm, plus a research internship in renewable energy.
Thanks!
Bump
Yeah just take MFPE no questions asked
So brandname > experience ?
Thanks for your answer by the way !
Hi, i had a similar situation last year. I accepted the MFPE primarily because of the brand name, and it helped me secure internship offers outside corporate PE (for example IB and growth equity) so i dont think it wont benefit you in terms of infra recruitment. its still a buyside experience which hopefully will be modeling-heavy (if its CVC for example)
Thank you so much ! I think I’ll take the offer of the MF then ;)
Is it Permira / Cinven?
Then I think I’ll just take the MF offer :)
thanks !
On paper, the MFPE offer looks nice, but the thing is, it will most likely not lead to a Full-Time offer, so you’ll have to do another off-cycle internship afterward. If you’re fine with that, go for it!
Keep in mind that London SA applications are very random, so even having an MFPE internship on your CV does not guarantee a 100% chance of winning an offer, specially if you target a specific sector.
The MM internship in Infrastructure could be a good option, as it could lead to a Full-Time position in the sector you like, and then you can transition to other firms if you want.
Overall, I would try to clarify these offers to understand which ones could lead to Full-Time positions (ask HR and reach out to current interns).
That’s true, however I’ll be able to do 2 additional 6-months off-cycle internships, so I assume the brand name of the MF will help me getting other internships at a bank where they do actually hire interns.
thanks for your answer !
MFPE. You can always recruit for Canadian pensions in London etc and the Montreal office would love to have you as you’re a french speaker. Getting a work visa much less of a problem than US/UK etc
Canadian pension fund.
Reasons:
Caveats:
Thank you really much for your answer ! This helps me a lot.
As I mentioned it earlier, I still think I’ll take the MF offer (I really had a nice feeling when talking to them, more than with the other shops).
Again, this will be my first 6-month internship, and I’m supposed to do 2 other ones. I will try to get another internship in infra after this one (either at a bank/boutique or an infra fund).
I hope i will not regret it though.
Thanks !
You won't regret it for sure! They're all good options so well done on getting them - can't go wrong as long as you work hard! Good luck man
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