Exit Opps For Investing at University Endowment?
My cousin went to an ivy and landed a gig as an investment analyst at the school's investment fund/endowment.
What do exit ops look like? Would it mean working at a fund of funds, AM?
I feel like it's a pretty sweet gig with IB pay, but much lower hours (atleast on paper).
If this isn't appropriate for the AM forum, please move it but interested in any insights on what exits look like for people in these kinds of roles
Also curious
Curious here too as I was in between going the FO/university endowment route vs. MM IB, and ultimately chose to sell my soul for IB. Wondering what could’ve been…
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No
I’m at an Ivy League endowment and can confirm that the pay is on par with that of IB/S&T at least at my level. In fact, this year I got a higher bonus here than I would have at the IB I used to work at. Is this true across the endowment space? Definitely not. However this is possible at some of the larger, private university endowments. As you move away from Ivy League endowments to smaller ones, I’d expect pay and hours to go down as well. Managing directors at top endowments can still bring in 7-figure incomes.
Exit oops that make sense are FoF, family office, other endowments, foundations, pensions, or investor relations. But really the endowment is the exit opp so the exits that I just mentioned are essentially doing the same job as you would at the endowment (aside from IR)
2 questions, what do hours look like relative to other investing jobs?
Are post MBA's hired into these kinds of roles? I know my cousin told me some people with a few years in SS ER backgrounds went on to join the fund, but they came from his ivy alma mater.
It seems like a great career path (from what Ive heard so far).
Hours for me are maybe ~60-65 hours a week.
As far as MBA hires, it really is just going to depend on the firm. Some places have barbell shapes with a bunch of junior staff and very senior staff with no one in between. The openings are also limited (top endowment investment teams might be ~15-20 people) so just limited data points to make broad generalizations but I’m sure MBAs get hired
It seems if my ultimate goal is PE/HF, I should lateral to IB first? Wondering how hard the move is from endowment to IB? Does it happen at the analyst level or you need an MBA for that.
In your particular role, do you focus on any particular asset class? Is it mainly manager selection or do you do any direct investments? Would love to hear more about your experience
It’s mainly manager selection but has some direct / co-invest. A lot of LPs are getting really attracted to co-invest as an effective way to lower fees
Thanks for posting. I'm currently at an investment consultant working in PE manager selection but would like to get my feet wet as an LP some day. Can I ask you a few questions via DM?
Cheers
Sure, just DM’ed you
I know some people leave for the big investment consultants and vice versa. e.g. Cambridge Associates, Callan, Mercer
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