Family Office Career Track

Bump myself?

Without giving too much away, I've been in a similar position - moved from an M&A boutique to an FO-affiliated advisory shop where I've now been at coming up to a year, also in a Senior Analyst role. A little similar but not exactly, so your experiences may vary from mine, but I believe the headline considerations remain the same regardless and always happy to share.

I think one of the biggest things that could make or break your experience if you do pull the trigger and join them, like you've mentioned, is the "entrepreneurial vibe" typically found in these smaller firms. It could be a great fit for some, and absolutely terrible for others, depending on your personality/past knowledge of processes/etc. You could be on deals one day and doing up licensing applications/administrative work the other, and it's definitely not as structured as some of the larger outfits out there. Another point to consider is the team not having much BB/EB/MF experience. This could make things a little more painful if you're used to going through certain pre-conceived notions of what a proper transaction process is, and the management not understanding/supporting you because they're not used to how bankers work, although at least from what you've said about the mandate in renewables/real estate, it sounds like you've got the sector experience and won't be coming in blind transactions-wise and it would be easier for you to build some credibility early on. 

w.r.t. bonus being 200%, unless your base is tiny (which I doubt it'd be), I call bs on that lol, 200% is pretty absurd unless you run your own book and/or have a revenue share component to your TC. Keen to see if this rings true if you do join or from others in the FO space as well.

Another really key point as well is the team size. This has been mentioned countless times on WSO already, but whether you actually vibe with your colleagues is infinitely more important in a smaller shop. It would seriously make your life hell if you really didn't like the people sitting around you, or if you grew to not-really-respect the Principals/senior management team. It's a real mood killer and I've thankfully not had this problem as of yet. For yourself, once you're at the final stages of the interview process, I'd litmus test this by going on a coffee or two with some of the existing staff and just having a chat, not about work or necessarily asking about the firm, just hang out and chat for 30-60min to see if you can click.

Personally I'd left my old shop for reasons similar to yours, but for me I think I've learnt that an "overly-entrepreneurial setting" may not really be it for me, and unless things move along much faster and we professionalise many aspects of the firm, I'd be looking for a lateral in perhaps 2-3 years. Would love to hear more from others too.