How does PE recruiting work from MM banks?
Incoming FT analyst at a top MM shop (Baird/Blair/HL). There's a ton of old threads on here about PE recruiting from BB/EB or consulting companies, but can anyone shed some light on what the recruiting process looks like for an analyst from one of these respected MM places? Will headhunters reach out to me? I know its going to be tough, but I'd like to give MFs, or at least UMM PE, a shot during on cycle, and if I miss out then I might consider lateraling to a BB and trying again. I went to a target, have good GPA/test scores, etc, the only thing stopping me from being a competitive candidate is that I'm not at a BB.
Should I just focus on lateraling and trying to do on-cycle the next year? Would love any insight from someone who recruited for PE from a MM shop. From my understanding, a lot of the PE exits in the space tend to be referrals by senior bankers to their PE friends at sponsors they work with a lot, but from looking at previous tomb stones it seems like the typical exit from my firm is to smaller funds and I want to do something bigger.
bump
bump
Copying my response from here: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/do-headhunters-reach-out-to-mm-i…
I worked at a MM and spoke to pretty much all the headhunters - all were inbounds from them or introduced via somebody else from the firm who got an inbound. Got my current job through Glocap, for example.
Thanks for the response. Do you get looks from headhunters working with bigger firms (UMM/MF) or were they mostly MM? Did you do on-cycle recruitment or later?
Mostly MM. Some UMM and even a couple of MFs but if you are dead set on trying for those I would recommend lateraling.
Hate to break it to you OP, but it doesn't
So you're saying PE recruiting is very difficult from a respected MM shop?
I worked at lower tier BB and I’d say that if you’re all or nothing for a MF you should lateral.
If you’re open to MM PE opportunities there’s a lot more wiggle room - though you’ll likely have a longer tail recruitment process that extends after on cycle.
bump
MF and UMM PE almost never hire from MM banks. I have seen a couple MM analysts lateral up-market to a BB/EB and then land UMM+ jobs. It's definitely not the norm, and you still will not be as competitive as the analysts that graduated and went straight to BB/EB.
You're most competitive for true mid market ($500mm-$2bn) funds. If I were you, I would target funds that has strong returns (and thus likely to raise larger subsequent funds), openness to promotion, good culture and in your geographic presence. I know of a number of people that left UMM/MF roles to become senior associates / VPs at funds like these.
Why do you say its harder to recruit for PE as a lateral to BB/EB? Wouldn't I be more competitive as an applicant at a BB with a year of MM experience under my belt compared to the BB analyst recruiting before they've touched a live deal? Just with how early PE recruiting is, I thought the extra year could be beneficial.
Because you’ll still have the branding of the mm on your resume
anyone else have experience with this?
Can echo the advice above that MF and UMM PE rarely take bankers from MM banks, even the best ones. I would focus your energy on some of the better MM PE funds, usually with funds between $300M-$3B. Funds of that size work a lot with MM banks and usually understand the type of skills that you have gained as a MM banker. Most of your best looks will generally be off-cycle. For reference, I had a similar background to you (target school, high GPA, etc.) and I will be going to a MM PE fund with an AUM of ~$1.5-2.5B.
Happy to describe my experience with recruiting: within the first few months of arriving on the desk, pretty much all of the headhunters reached out to me directly. You meet with each of them and give them a pretty clear answer as to what you are looking for. I'd recommend looking up their client list in advance and speaking to why you think specific funds might be interesting to you. The Headhunters will often send out a blast email for mandates that they are working on -- assuming you had a good conversation with them, they will throw your name into the resume pile at the PE fund, who will then select candidates for interviews. The off-cycle interview process can take a few weeks (mine lasted about a month), usually consisting of a few rounds. The usual format is a first round that is usually 30 minutes or an hour, second round case/modeling test, and final round where you meet with a few other senior people at the firm. I received an offer the day after my final round interview.
In your original comment, you mentioned the idea of senior bankers referring analysts. From my experience, I don't see all that much of that. Your better bet is reaching out to associates who were previously at your bank and are now at MM PE Funds that are are interested in.
I know Amity has their client list on their website but other than that it doesn't seem like others (GloCap, CPI, HSP etc.) have that on there. Where do you recommend going to see that? I know you can find some of that data firm by firm on GoBuyside but is there anywhere else you think would be best?
Ea ipsum cum aut officiis molestiae itaque quasi neque. Autem asperiores similique qui ullam consequatur excepturi autem. Recusandae dolores vel et expedita molestiae reiciendis.
Quas dolorum voluptas temporibus fugiat amet ipsa et quae. Aperiam et ullam ipsum fugiat molestiae quo. Eveniet qui tempora maiores tempora eius harum rerum.
Nulla est odio similique. Et explicabo eligendi illo libero qui maiores. Temporibus iure nesciunt aliquam in. Minima quo maxime itaque fuga dolor. Veritatis illum maxime sunt consequatur. Dolor aut quis dolore omnis quia.
Maxime in ut natus. Magnam aut iste veniam quia laudantium quis in. Sunt id amet pariatur id voluptatem nostrum. Veritatis consequatur rerum at voluptates repellendus recusandae excepturi. Dicta laboriosam nostrum quae quo. Quae id accusamus accusamus est. Nisi incidunt nisi impedit hic voluptatem.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...