From searching MF/MM PE on Linkedin, I noticed that promotion upwards in private Equity often takes quite a bit longer/unpredictably than in investment banking. In that case would it not be better to move up through the predictable ranks in an investment bank and then lateral over to private equity? Or am I missing something?
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PE career does have more unpredictability / luck factor to it because promotions are often married to fund raises and bouncing around is really hard due to carry and noncompetes.
the part you’re missing though is that it’s hard to break into PE at any point other than associate. The skills are similar, but not exactly the same and you do need some training. Couple examples of a really senior IB MD moving over and bringing network, but incredibly rare. A few go IB Associate > MBA > PE senior associate but also very rare.
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