Deal Origination Question

Hi guys,

I recently graduated with my undergraduate (not a target school) in Finance last December. I'm currently working at a firm that does a lot of deal origination for PE firms. I'm a research analyst doing a lot of the repetitive work on making lists of companies for our Associates to call up. I'm considering taking up the offer to become an Associate and use that experience to get into a PE firm in a year while learning a lot of modeling, studying for my CFA, and networking at the same time.


One of the associates who left last year got into a boutique IB. Where I live now doesn't offer many jobs in this industry, and I should take it. I honestly feel like this would be a good route. I hoped to have some outside opinions from people already in the industry. 


Let me know what I should and shouldn't do.

 
 

What other opportunity do you have??

Seems like you answered your own question… other route is just do additional studies but given there’s a proven path already, why wouldn’t you take it?

 

I think right now pay is an issue. If I took the associate position I would make 40K base + commission on deals which I heard is an average of 15-25K per deal for associates commission obviously depending on the size. The average deals per year that the firm averages is 8-10 and that's based on four guys.

I have a position for an accountant role for an accounting firm that does tax for businesses and individuals willing to pay $80K a year.

I feel like I want to stay for the associate role but at the same time I have an opportunity to make guaranteed money. However, I am wondering if I really want to be an accountant. My ultimate goal is land into a PE firm down the line. Which makes sense to stay on as an associate for the deal origination firm.

 
Most Helpful

You sound like you know what you want. Good thing to do is not to worry about money too much - it will always come if you dedicate enough time to a certain profession. I took a significant paycut going into a transition role but the payoff has been massive as I now earn much more than I did before and I enjoy my current role much better. If you were truly passionate about PE or IB, I'd feel like you would cop being a research associate for 1-2 years, network with the alumni for future referral and grind your way out to IB and then PE after. If you do the 5-10 year forecast of compensation, you'll be earning much more working across IB but keep in mind your social life will be signficantly worse than an accountant.

 

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