Leave MF PE for FP&A Manager at Top Company?
Sorry, I know these posts get spammed a lot but really struggling with this one. I am one year in at my MF and my hours are 9am to 1am pretty regularly, with usually Saturdays and Sundays being full work days. My all in comp was $410k my first year.
I am so burnt out and miserable I have been recruiting. I got one stand out offer - I would be an FP&A / Finance Manager for a top company right now (along lines of Cognition, Mercor, etc). The pay was quoted at around $340k all in which sounds amazing, and hours are 9am-8pm.
Those who have left PE, or are thinking about it - should I just STFU and accept this offer instantly? I have been recruiting hard and most strategic finance / corp dev offers I am getting ranges of like $160-$250k all in. This is the highest by far and it is not even close.
I'd take a look at 3-5 years time of what path it is you want to do. Maybe you like PE but the current shop isn't worth it in which case start pushing back and try to actively recruit for a LMM/MM shop.
Also, really do your DD on these companies, I've had friends (post MBA / ex-banking / PE) that have gone in similar levels as you and only lasted a month because the culture was so brutal. There is no such thing as free lunch and if they're quoting 9am -8pm you best bet your actual hours at time can be worse (albeit better than PE of course).
Thank you this is very helpful. I just overall hated PE and investing / IB vibe. Everyone so buttoned up and thinks everything is 100x more important than it was. So many tweakers in the industry. Just sort of sick of it all.
Were the other roles you were looking at also manager level? Seems like the top comp is only at SF tech companies and all other corporate roles are like 150-200k.
It ranged, the lower end was all associate / senior associate. However, still some manager positions paying like $180k all in. Yes, you are right. Random corp dev jobs or strategic finance gigs for random healthcare companies or industrials was all shit but the top tech or top private companies right now all paid $250k+
Is the comp including equity?
Yes it does, but cash is like 80% of the all in.
What's the breakdown between equity and cash?
Seems like a great offer. Echoing above - really do your DD on the company. Left tech PE for a startup and while I do not regret the move, I work similar but more intense hours
Got it thanks so much - Would love to hear, what factored into your decision to ultimately leave PE? I am struggling with do I just eat shit and try to raise the ranks (and continue to be miserable) or leave now?
Curious to hear what type of startup you're at, your role and why you left tech PE too (and what scale of PE)
Middle market growth buyouts fund (part of a larger platform) software focused
Now at a Series A / AI-native services. Ultimately I wanted the operating experience (something I had thought I would enjoy for a while and most of my close friends are in startups) - got the opportunity to run a business line and build the function from scratch which was enticing
The thing I waver on is that comp is a significant discount, I am still working a lot, and the equity is speculative - but I could not really imagine myself staying in PE (though I had the opportunity to stay for senior assoc)
My main callout would be to know what you're getting into w/ FP&A vs. strat fin. And do a lot of diligence on the team, is it led by former accountants, or former bankers / PE people. Former can be a flag that it's going to be all focused on reporting and far less strategic / core to how business decisions are made.
Thanks I really appreciate that call out. Yes tbh the team is mostly pure accounting backround / audit / big 4 and fp&a and a very few ex-bankers sprinkled in (0 PE). However, me personally I am okay with this. Seems like FP&A will be a lot more chill
Not necessarily. FP&A can be pretty driven by monthly accounting cycles, where every single month you're scrambling to reconcile vs. budget, pulling together monthly / quarterly financial reporting packages, etc. The annual budget process can be an absolute pain as well.
Depending on the company FP&A may be viewed as more of a back office type function and not a strategic function, and so you may be viewed as the #s monkey dept (with sometimes a lot of pressure driven by investor requests, both existing and prospective - you say you hate the overall PE / investing / IB vibe, but unfortunate reality is even at an operating company that vibe may impact your life because what the investors want, the investors get).
Not saying every company is like this, but I'd be a bit worried about going into an FP&A job that you think will be chill but is telling you hrs are 9am-8pm.
Take the FP&A offer immediately! Trading a brutal 16-hour, 7-day-a-week grind for $340k at 9am–8pm hours is a massive quality-of-life upgrade, especially when it beats typical market corporate rates ($160k–$250k) by a mile.
appreciate the color thanks so much
I would tough out the PE role a couple more years until you truly can’t take it anymore
why?
Because FP&A manager is 3 years from senior manager which is 3 years from director which is 3 years from senior director which is 3+ years from VP / head of corporate function
You can shortcut that 12 years to substantially fewwr years with just several more years in PE
Also if you hate it you will never find another company paying so much for that level
Dude, yeah, wtf? This is a total no-brainer, IMO, if the company is Mercor/Cognition-tier...
9am - 8pm as an FP&A Manager is crazy
Perspiciatis odit in et libero. Qui dolore tenetur commodi veritatis qui. Veritatis magni ipsum veritatis recusandae eligendi reprehenderit.
Ducimus rerum sed accusantium eum itaque nihil amet. Laudantium et ea nisi quos laboriosam perspiciatis laboriosam. Quibusdam aliquid cupiditate adipisci sapiente ullam saepe quas. Fugit vel sit adipisci. Quasi at quo voluptatem est nam sunt.
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...
Quisquam at quo est et. Impedit sequi unde et est. Est voluptates fugit ut non est commodi. Culpa sed dicta sequi accusantium. Sed facilis facilis ipsa fuga atque natus.
Sit rerum cumque blanditiis nam voluptate numquam. Pariatur corporis et amet quibusdam. Et error consequatur velit aut.
Dolorem sit dolores eos. Quis voluptas est sed aperiam. Dolorem assumenda nostrum distinctio minus nisi. Fuga est fuga aut quia quidem sit est.