LevFin Analyst Preparing for PE

I did this transition successfully. A few tidbits:

• You can self study. I did a lot of this when I had downtime. I read the porters 5 forces book. I read a bunch of HBR articles on M&A and general business strategy. I did all the pe study guides. I read the Latham & Watkins m&a legal definition book (this was very dry, but informative). I read the Ray Dalio book (proceed with caution). I read the ben Graham book. I read the compiled shareholder letters of warren buffet.
• Do practice models. Realistically if you can bang out an lbo practice model you will be able to ramp just fine.
• Work on your general quantitative, verbal, and integrated reasoning skillsets. This sounds basic but it underlies a lot of the pe job. I studied for the GMAT around this time and it served as a good foundational refresher.
• Be a self inspired learner. Enjoy learning new things. A big part of the investing job is mentally modeling the universe and then picking your shots. Enjoying learning will give you the energy needed to do it effectively. I'd argue pe is on the mount Olympus of intellectually stimulating jobs, so find joy in that
• Be proactive about getting reading materials from your new firm ahead of time. Offer to sign an NDA. The more they give you, the better. Study up on their files, deals, background, etc before you start
• Apply what you've learned in levfin to be a better equity investor. There are real upsides of levfin. One is a stronger fundamental understanding and feel for risk. You do a lot of this in levfin. Knowing risk is a good foundation - though you can't let it limit you either. In spare time, push yourself on the other side of the spectrum and learn how contemplate upside, "fan of outcomes", etc. Oftentimes a bad credit is also a bad equity investment (though not always)
• Study m&a process steps. Since you are in levfin you will be less familiar with these. Get a Gantt chart, or ask a friend in coverage to send you some examples. Also ask them to share their group specific training materials so you can cross train coverage or m&a
• It's 2026 so use Ai and have it so deep research reports to train you. Identify what you suck at and have Ai generate a huge report getting you up the curve. You can also iterate with Ai and learn a ton. It's such a great educational tool if you use it with curiosity
• To some extent, learn to forget. Some things will not be relevant. A Moodys rating analysis, learning how to pull upstream BB- TLB OIDs, and the math exposure risk may around a selldown are very unlikely to ever reach your radar screen again, and these tasks can be all consuming in levfin. Good to know for sure, but your brain only has so much working memory