My story/situation probably won’t impress many of you, but I think I’ve found career happiness.
I attended a non-target college and studied accounting. Worked in valuation for a year and then landed a role at a LMM private equity shop.
Here’s why my current role is great:
1) 45ish hour weeks. I typically get to the office around 7:30 and leave at about 5:00
2) The people are very business/operationally focused, so there isn’t a snobby finance bro/private equity environment
3) I get to help business owners receive the capital they need and will eventually provide operational/strategic support. I tend to be entrepreneurial, so this is really cool to me
4) Carry will be great at senior level
If you’re feeling like you’ll never find the right job, keep that head up and stay confident.
Genuinely happy for you. Personally at a reputable MM/UMM and have panic attacks before work some mornings. So I think you may have figured it out with LMM…
Thank you man. The good news for you is that going LMM will be a piece of cake with your resume. Probably a hefty pay cut, but the option is there if you decide you want it.
Are you thinking of leaving? I'm (and frankly a ton of MM/UMM, I'd suspect) facing a similar issue. Most mornings it's hard to even get up because of the mountain of shit waiting for me that I'm not interested in whatsoever.
Desperately want to. But anxious to recruit with no job, and anxious to recruit while in this headspace. So I’m trying to get to a better place mentally first.
Glad to read a post like this . Cheers to you man
Sounds like a great lifestyle. Good to hear!
Just out of curiosity - what do you think is driving the less hours? Is it because of lighter IC requirements? General culture being more chill? I guess working with people who don't bother too much about unnecessary detail / analysis helps also but wanted to know if there's something about LMM that makes life easier
Yep one of their selling points when they recruited me is that they really don’t build granular models until they are about ready to go under LOI. We may do some light diligence/research when we are semi-interested but we don’t waste time if we aren’t pretty sure we want to acquire.
congrats, that's the attitude
A few questions, if you don't mind answering:
What is comp like at the analyst/associate level at your firm?
Is your firm in the midwest or northeast?
Does your firm require MBA to advance? Is that even a requirement in the LMM space?
Great questions.
I am starting at the 1st year analyst level and make $100k all in. $80k of this is base. Located in the southeast in what I’d consider a tier 3 city. Carried interest and all around higher comp is granted at associate/senior associate level.
Fund size is $150 million, they are on their 2nd fund. Plan is to do 1 fund per 3 years.
MBA won’t be needed.
Damn the pay is INSANELY good, you hit a jackpot in terms of company and culture bro. Enjoy
Obligatory - Are you hiring?
Unfortunately, we aren’t. Probably won’t add any new members for quite some time.
Hahah, I appreciate the response. Glad you found a great gig!
Congrats! Seems like an incredible opportunity.
Prior to joining, did you know about how laid back the hours were going to be? It’s sometimes harder to gauge this at smaller firms (since there are less data points online), so I’m curious to hear about how you went about finding this out.
Thanks and good question. I have a buddy who used to work there and a buddy who current works there, so I was able to get the scoop. Also while I was interviewing, the senior associate told me he’s never missed a dinner with his wife while working there.
what's an example of a tier 3 city?
Think along the lines of Miami, Washington, Atlanta
DC or Seattle?
Lol, I think I know you. LMM with two ex Corp Bankers as partners and roughly $70m in AUM in a very old city with a famous church?
Wrong. We aren’t quite that small haha. Not sure of any famous churches around here either.
Haha damn, worth a try, the associate at one of my internships had pretty much the same background as you
What type of valuation did you do? Was it at a B4 firm? Wondering what the transition was like.
It was at an independent valuation shop. Did portfolio valuations for hedge funds and private equity funds.
The work I was doing then was not super relevant to my work now.
Oh cool, like a D&F/Kroll type of shop?
Refreshing to read a post about someone who actually likes their job. I'm the same boat with my current role in terms of how appreciative I am with regards to my work content / team / impact etc and feel like we in finance don't step back often enough and appreciate how good we have it relative to others. Obviously this is not to say those who gripe have invalid complaints (and I've done my fair share of this and some), but glad to see all this worked out for you and you're calling it out as I hope it'll serve as inspiration for some who may be seeking a silver lining or hints for what to do next.
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