CPP Investment Board 2020 Updated Reputation and Exits?

I can give a pretty unique insight on CPPIB since my best friend works there, but please remember that this is all second-hand information/my own personal observations.

In terms of precedence of exits, CPP has some history of people moving to other private funds (Apollo, Onex, Brookfield, Ashler Capital, Silver Point, Citadel, Global Infrastructure Partners are some of the notable ones - someone ended up at Tiger and an intern ended up at Silver Lake as well) but, the exit opportunities Toronto global banks are definitely better than CPPIB (GS/MS/BAML/CS etc. have sent people to TPG, H&F, Silver Lake, Oaktree, Carlyle). 

At the same time, I'm not exactly sure why anyone would leave given how sweet a gig working at CPPIB is. My friend has an *exceptional* lifestyle (9-6/7 with pretty much no weekend work except on super live deals), pay that is slightly-to-significantly lower than street (Analyst 1 is 120-140k annualized, likely higher now post-COVID - not sure about other ranks), low stress, and more interesting work. I'm sure there are differences between the group so I can't really speak to that but from what I've heard their energy, infrastructure, PE secondaries and credit groups are well-regarded but I'm not 100% sure (I have heard tough things about the direct PE group and would caution people to do their research there). 

The other thing is that for many people CPP is the exit as there aren't that many reputable buy-side seats in Canada, so many talented Canadians who did their banking stint in the US and are looking to come home end up at CPP/OTPP. Additionally, an underrated benefit is that CPP is a pretty reliable feeder to top MBA programs; every year they end up consistently sending a few juniors to HBS/GSB - I assume it's because of the social impact + global experience angle.   

At the end of the day, it really depends on what your goals are. If you're completely sold on the 2+2 "mega-fund golden path" than you would be better suited for doing a banking stint, but if not, CPP is a wonderful place to start a career and a good launching pad to other opportunities. My friend seems genuinely happy to work at CPP, loves his job/coworkers, makes good money (especially adjusted for hours and stress), and makes me wish that I took the company more seriously when recruiting out of undergrad.

Hopefully this helps!

Edit: Added some more details for more context