LBS MFA placement for London PE

Considering doing a masters and have heard mixed opinions - come from a semi-target

I would have SA experience at a mid EB (MOE/LAZ/PWP)

Would the MFA help me lateral to a firm with better exits?

How does it compare to other mfins?

Any thoughts are appreciated. Have a good day.

19 Comments
 

Have heard and seen from people in the MFA that, surprisingly, if you have a reputable IB internship prior to the program, you get a LOT more processes in PE than in the sell side for some reason. For some people with your profile and MFA I have seen their total PE processes this year between 5-10 (assuming you apply to everything).

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Obviously, because they assume you have decent training relative to the rest of MFA places & the whole reason they hire assos is training. Also see recent thread on PE funds stopping their analyst programs for the exact reason they don’t want to do the training leg work.

I’d also add that the PE Analyst pool is tiny in london, and is increasingly being filled by people with solid experience, it’s incredibly rare anyone lands a good seat at UMM/MF. See recent An2 placement from Goldman TMT to TB as an analyst, competition is ridiculous, especially with lots of English speaking Europeans deciding to move to london. Your best bet is to get a decent IB & ride it out for two years.

There are some smaller LMM shops eg EPIC, Tenzing. But remember if you want to land a half good PE shop. Without banking experience you will really struggle….. especially as (and I’ll emphasise this) as a PE analyst you will get LESS deal experience than if you do your stint in M&A, and you’re a glorified paper boy for 1year min.

 

Thank you. What would you consider solid work experience? I assume for analyst roles in PE, they don't require more than an SA at a decent firm and maybe an off-cycle?  Would you not apply for associate role if you have 2-3 years of work ex?

I already have a decent EB SA and will likely get a return offer. Do you think the MFA will help me lateral to evr/cvp/top bbs? I don't see many people in PE from my semi target, so a big reason I want to do a masters is the brand name  

 
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Hi, thank you for your insight. Could you elaborate on the "processes" part? Do you mean you have seen MFA students make it to assessment centres/interviews at 5-10 pe firms? 

Would this be for SAs at these firms or full time analyst roles? Do you think that the mfa (combined with my work ex) will give me a good chance at lateraling to CVP/EVR/the top bbs

Thank you

 

I would recommend looking into the HEC MiF programme - they have amazing placements. On top of that, LBS have increased the class size for the MFA significantly, which could impact placements. But seeing you already have a great EB experience, the MFA could be a good choice too.

 

From that programme you will get a shot at most, if not all, positions available. People get positions in good funds directly from the programme or after a few years - I can think of friends now at Balckstone, Advent, Hg, Carlyle, CD&R etc. One of the best programme in Europe, if not the best, together with HEC mif

 

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