Good SF/Bay Area/Greater California seats with decent comp/WLB?
Grew up in the SF Bay, did my 2 years of banking in NYC and now am at C/P72/MLP - went to school on the East coast. Due to some personal family reasons, I'm planning on moving back closer to home. What are some good seats in California (prefer SF/Bay) that I could realistically get after my HF stint? Due to personal reasons, seats need to have good WLB (sub 60 hour weeks most weeks). Would do PE, but don't really prefer. Pretty much any seat that I could realistically break into with good comp and good work life, so I can take care of family stuff as well. I know D&C is pretty great WLB and comp, and def looking into that. Any other spots that anyone would recommend? Thx.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are some recommendations for roles in the SF Bay Area or Greater California that align with your criteria of good compensation and work-life balance (sub-60 hour weeks):
Corporate Development/Strategy Roles:
Venture Capital (VC):
Family Offices:
Real Estate Private Equity (REPE):
Tech Product Management or Operations:
Boutique Investment Firms:
Impact Investing or ESG-Focused Roles:
Given your background, you should have a strong shot at many of these roles. Networking will be key—leverage your existing connections in the Bay Area and reach out to alumni or colleagues who have transitioned into these types of roles. Good luck!
Sources: Kellogg vs. Anderson (w/ $) vs. Ross (w/ $), Who is happy & satisfied with their current role?, Work to live, not live to work. Low-stress finance jobs..., Private Equity shops with the best work/life balance, Work to live, not live to work. Low-stress finance jobs...
You’re looking for a unicorn (though idk what your compensation expectations are)
300+ total
Hopefully you find it but in all reality I think you're going to have to adjust your expectations if you want to work sub 60 hour weeks.
Maybe look into corp dev M&A roles (though these can spike too and very company dependent) can probably get low $200k.. Long Only AM (D&C, Fuller & Thaler) can get you that $300k+ you're looking for but these places maybe hire 1 person a year on a needs basis (or maybe MBA pipeline).
HF you probably know the scene better than I do so won't comment there but within the PE/VC/GE there isn't a place (at least that I know of) that is going to be paying $300k+ without those hours at the junior level.
Maybe take a look at tech but without any real good data science/coding skill not sure how well you'll fare given a lot of CS majors are jobless due to AI
Thanks for all the help. Do you know any MM/LMM PE shops that would have a more calm work life? Really need to spend as much time with family as possible.
Also do you think it's possible to network your way into a job at Fuller & Thaler/D&C or any other L/O AM shops that are in the Bay Area?
I don't know any MM/LMM on the top of my head that have better WLB than others I think though general consensus is the smaller you go the better the WLB but then at a LMM PE you probably won't be getting $300k+ (at the associate level) a.k.a no free lunch
As for L/O shops, networking will certainly help but I'm not sure how helpful it would be. Take for example Fuller & Thaler... they have what? 7 investing employees (ballpark)? so unless you really bring in value or somehow someone leaves while you're networking its a bit tough
Makes sense. Thank you so much for all the help. I'll edit this thread with what I can find eventually.
Farallon
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