Is working at a megafund any better as you get more senior?

Is working at a megafund any better as you get more senior? Let’s say VP-MD level. is the comp, growth potential, work-life balance any better than a high quality smaller fund? Why is there so much competition to get into them?

5 Comments
 

First, clearly it depends what you mean by “smaller fund”. The MF label is arbitrary and largely meaningless. There’s no practical difference between, say, KKR and CD&R.

Assuming you are an MD, the pay is significantly higher at the MF vs a small place as is platform stability and resources. Lifestyle is entirely self driven at that point so not a consideration.

Of course, there will be exceptions, like MD at the rare $2bn fund that raises a successor 3-4x as large where org structure also lines up for you to have a clearer shot at partner than the MF. But there’s always exceptions.

 

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