Corporate Development Investing to Private Equity

My background is a little varied. I graduated from a target school and worked in the LevFin group of a BB out of undergrad, then joined a top-tier private credit group and am now working in a "Corporate Development" role at a company that focuses on consumer investments (restaurants/gyms/hotels/etc..) and real estate (company is $2-5BN top line).

I joined this new role because 1) I wanted to get on the equity investing side of things, 2) Have more C-Suite exposure, 3) Get a better understanding of operations/business strategy and 4) Work on smaller teams and have broader responsibility.

I work on a really lean team that does everything from FP&A, M&A, Real Estate Analysis/Negotiation, Investor Relations/Capital raising and I work directly with the VP of Corp Dev/CFO/CEO. I actually have been learning a lot and am enjoying the work, but didn't realize how much the comp cut would bother me when I compare myself to my former peers/PE professionals (doesn't look like there is much upward trajectory either). I enjoy learning about the FP&A/forecasting intricacies, but can see myself getting tired of all the reporting we do for our board/banks/others.

At the end of the day I still enjoy the diligence/deal work the most and want to transition to private equity after a year or two and just wanted to see how people feel my background would fit for a Sr. Assoc/VP role in PE?

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I am in a very similar role. I am doing corporate development for a fairly large group in a smaller state. We work in automotive, sports, entertainment, insurance, and sub-prime loans. The exposure is incredible. The team is very small (2 of us) and we work with the CEO/CFO on all the deals. I have been here 2 years and we have done close to $500M in acquisitions. But I am starting to wonder what's next?

I think my experience is strong and I think I bring a strong quantitate/qualitative skill set. However, it isn't a traditional track to go into PE. I chose a firm that most people have never heard of but I have an amazing role with great exposure to C-Suite, but I am afraid it came at the expense of not being able to move on. The mobility here is very limited. My boss is also the CFO of a 10K employee company so there is no hierarchy, which, like I said, is good and bad.

 

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