Leaving PE Firm
Hi All: looking for some advice. I currently work as a second year Associate at a PE firm but have received a verbal offer at another fund (public equity). My fund is not a traditional 2 and out and I will likely get promoted if I were to stay and have had prelim. conversations on my longevity at the firm. Bonus cycle is September but looking to leave before then to take some time off given start date is in the Fall.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you manage communicating to your team you were leaving? Did you get your bonus pro-rated or did you have it fully paid out? I have good relationships with people here and performance has been good, so reference checks post leaving will be fine.
Thanks!
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are some insights and advice for your situation:
Communicating Your Departure:
Timing and Approach:
Professionalism:
Managing Bonus Payout:
Pro-rated Bonus:
Full Bonus Payout:
Additional Considerations:
Example from WSO Threads:
By following these steps, you can manage your departure professionally and potentially secure a pro-rated bonus. Good luck with your transition!
Sources: How have you quit?, 2 successful years at the firm, 2 years of 0 bonus and minimal pay rise, 2 successful years at the firm, 2 years of 0 bonus and minimal pay rise, How to Respond to Question in Bonus Communication ("What's Your Reaction to That?"), How to leave your IB analyst job?
Hey, just sit down and talk to your manager.
First and foremost you want written offer not verbal to be sure. Now, once you have a written offer, you can sit down with manager and explain that they can either promote you now and match the offer ( and give some more $$$) or you will be thinking about leaving. Do this only when you have a contact from other firm. Verbal offers don’t mean shit.
Now, if your current firm values you, they will do everything to make you stay. If not, you have your answer.
In terms of communication, it was easy. They didn’t match and I left. But usually people give 2 week notice to be on good terms in the future. You can definitely ask for a prorated bonus but I’d think about timing ( do it before you announce your leave)
Horrible advice
Elaborate pls
Bad advice. No firm you are leaving will ever pay out any type of bonus, prorated or not. Why would they? It's always the new firm that pays it to incentivize you to leave.
And this is not how it works in PE for promotions either. In corporate, maybe, but PE has very set timelines and it's immature to try and pistol-whip them into a promotion.
If you want to leave, politely give them notice and do everything you can to hand things over cleanly. But asking for a promotion or a pro-rated bonus is only going to get a bad reaction.
The only way to truly “guarantee” you get a decent bonus is to delay your start and departure until after it hits. Some firms will still pay it out but many will not, and the sad truth is there isn’t really much you can or say if you leave beforehand. Even if they do, there is a good chance it is small relative to what you otherwise may have gotten. I definitely understand wanting to travel but is there any way you can delay the HF start? Unlike what a previous comment has said, if you have no intention of staying, I wouldn’t ask them to match. Because if they do match and or even go above that, you’ll look pretty dumb by still leaving and could risk burning bridges as you clearly never intended on staying.
Respectfully, you are a a fool if you think your firm will pay out a dime in bonus if you announce a departure before it is paid, sorry.
A bonus is not remuneration for good work performed, rather, it is incentive to stick it out for 'one more year'.
Your current firm will absolutely not pay you a penny if you leave before bonus.
When people refer to a "pro-rated" bonus, that is the new firm paying them as an incentive to leave. If your new spot will do that, great. But your old firm will either give you a full bonus in September or $0 beforehand.
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