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Congrats on the offers. I was in a very similar situation 2 years ago and chose the SF MF. I have no ties to SF but made the decision to grit my teeth to pick up the MF brand and experience. Haven’t tried to go back to NYC yet but it seems like it would be an easy move based on HH conversations.
Can you describe how it’s been in SF? Have you met friends easily?
It’s been good so far. Reached out to a few folks I knew from college that I didn’t know were out here. Also friends with other associates in my class; we’re close and hang out on weekends sometimes. I was in nyc for college and banking years so I felt like it would be good to try a different city. Not sure I’ll stay in SF long-term but it’s been great for me professionally and I have grown as a person from creating a new life in a new city. Would recommend taking the best offer you have location aside. Worst case you’ll get great experience and branding and be able to move wherever you want after your associate years.
SF MF for sure. The MF/UMM world in SF is much smaller and you will end up pretty much meeting all the PE folks by the end of your associate years. And if you are in the tech sector you have the massive opportunity (if you have time) to meet founders VCs and people in the industry if you ever want to pivot out of IB/PE.
Do the H&F, TPG, Thoma Bravo, Silver Lake associates all hang out with each other? Sounds like an underrated aspect of going to a MF in SF
On the contrary, sounds like something you should avoid at all costs for your mental healthl
don't know anyone from TB but I would say the TPG and SL folks are the most "social" outside of the finance crowd - also because of the Chicago/HYP/Wharton and to some extend Berkeley concentration in SF
Going to level set with you, it would be a huge career mistake to not take a TPG, H&F or Thoma offer for the firms you listed in NYC.
Going to one of those MFs will be a step-function change in your career prospects. MBA placement, PE lateral opportunities, and hedge fund recruiting will be different by a wide margin. All of the scaled SM HF’s worth leaving PE for certainly will hire from those MFs. I’m not sure any hire from the MM firms you listed. If you peruse the PE section of WSO you can quickly see the bloodbath that is PE mid-level recruiting, so take the brand name and experience when you can.
The value of the MF brand is a huge differentiator in your career. Your ASO years are honestly such a grind that I’m not even sure how much different it is being in NYC vs SF. You are working all the time. Banking is a cake walk compared to most MF ASO experiences. Those years will go by in an instant, and you’ll be off at business school or some other PE firm, because you’re most likely not getting promoted. If you’re at H&F/TPG, you’re definitely not getting promoted. From a career perspective, that’s my 2 cents.
Unless you’re grabbing one of the ~10 KKR/APO NYC offers in the meantime, I’d highly recommend doing your 2 years in SF. Also, you’ve got your whole life to live in NYC, and most people joining these MFs end up back there anyway if that’s what they want.
If your goal is to make it to VP, I would wager you’d be better off going to the fund with a more likely path to promotion than the mega fund. You’re getting kicked out in 2 years anyway, as you say, and the internally promoted ASO at THL is going to have better internal standing in the firm than the lateral from the mega fund. And you avoid having to deal with mid level recruiting all together.
Can you elaborate on how “banking is a cake walk compared to MFPE”
Super interesting question , and lots of thoughtful responses here, but I think we need to up level here:
What do you actually value in life and how do the two options score on those dimensions ?
You cannot really go wrong here if you really think about it , e.g., either way you’re gonna have more than enough money in your life.
2 year is definitely not the end of the world here , but is a non trivial amount of time, but What I am really getting at is : yes, if you want to make this decision solely on maximizing HBS chances or top hedgefund chances (which is not wrong at all by the way ), then you should certainly take the SF offer no doubt about it.
But you also probably want to think about questions like :
— do you have a partner ? What is her thoughts on moving ? How much do you value the relationship with her ?
— why exactly do you like NYC? How do you see SF differently? What makes you less excited about SF?
— what style of investing do you actually like ? Prestige aside , which team would you be more excited actually working with?
Again, it’s absolutely not wrong to think here only about exits and prestige. But just make sure you are being intentional on what dimensions you are prioritizing in your decision making process and how they influence the answer eg if you were to tell me the love of your life is in New York and relationships are the biggest determinant of your happiness, the “right” move here would be different than if your goal is to go to work for Bill Ackman.
Well THL isnt in NYC so its LG and WCAS. Both good firms
THL / LG / WCAS all good options and if you really do value NYC / Boston do that though all 3 are 2 & out which means you will have to go to b school or find another job soon. I think MF best positions you to do that
You are an incoming analyst from your comment history?
H&F is a no brainer. It’s the best option on that list by a mile.
I moved to SF because after doing healthcare IB, I really wanted to do tech PE. Joined a MM in SF after knowing no one here. SF is really different from the culture, the people, the day-to-day etc. I would think about what is important to you. That all said, you can do anything for two years. I am currently recruiting (coming up at the end of two years) and getting a lot of positive traction for opportunities in NYC. I imagine coming from a MF, it will be even easier for you. People, especially in tech investing, really understand the story of moving to SF and wanting to move back. I have not gotten questions around job hopping, why I did it in the first place, etc. Feel free to message if you would like to speak more.
Can you describe how it’s different than NY? Social, dating, activities, etc
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