London T2 vs Milan MBB for PE
Hey guys,
I'm halfway through my masters in London and have recently received an offer from a London Tier 2 firm (Strategy&/ OC&C/ Oliver Wyman/ LEK) and am weighing it against a potential MBB role in Milan (which I have yet to recruit for but have a decent shot at). My medium term goal is to get into PE.
Leaving aside non-work considerations, the pros and cons look as follows to me:
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London T2: in stronger and more dynamic city where most PEs are based, better WLB, better pay even when adjusted for cost of living, slightly faster progression
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Milan MBB: significantly better brand often essential to being considered for PE interviews, better exits in general (although from Milan you mostly end up in MM funds in London so far as I know?)
What would your opinions be as for the ideal place to start out in?
Also, an additional thing is that from what I understand it's doable to move to both London and (more easily) Milan MBB from London T2 after a time, although this switch would probably set back going to PE by a year or two. Not sure how realistic going from a T2 directly into PE is, so this might be necessary?
Thanks!
As an European working in London, I'd say if you wanna stay in London, go for London. You will get a graduate visa valid for 2 years (assuming you don't have the status) and will be able to see if you are able to lateral into PE after let's say 2 years. You can always come back to Milan to switch to MBB imho or go into T2, then lateral into MBB in London, and then go into PE
I have two friends who had the same choice and both went T2 London. It will be significantly easier to end up at MBB London from T2 London than from MBB Europe. T2 London is just more competitive (but you'll have to apply for the graduate route again - though with most MBBs you can just start 2/3 months after getting the offer in December so you only stay at T2 for half a year if it goes well...)
MBB Milan better for PE
It really depends which type of PE are you targeting.
There is approx. 0 chance of going from OC&C, LEK to large cap buyouts while there are many examples of people who made the transition with and without MBA from MBB in Milan to London large cap (to Bain Capital, Apax, EQT, H&F, Cinven just to name few personal connection I have).
The most obvious path is MBB 2-3 years in Milan, MBA, Large Cap PE in London (this either after the MBA if you have recruited or 1 year later so that you do not need to give back in full the scholarship that the MBB has paid for your MBA).
The alternative, for large cap PE, is that you start at a T2 and after two years you move to MBB. This is a suboptimal path as large cap PE already have plenty of CVs to go through and you will fall behind people who started at MBB in London and bankers. On the other side, it is always easy to say "I started in Milan as that was the obvious destination for consulting for an Italian and I had a great opportunity with joining Bain / BCG / McK..." than "I started at Strategy& as I was not lucky / good / networked enough to start at Bain in London".
If you want to work in Low / Mid-cap PE, then it is easier if you are in a T2 in London as these places requires generally more networking and rely less heavily on headhunters. They also hire people more frequently from the likes of OC&C and LEK, so that it is a path that you may want to consider if that is your final goal.
I suggest you go the MBB route. The brand name carries an incredible amount of weight when recruiting for PE and the experience is generally viewed as equivalent across the different offices. It will also be valuable to you for the rest of your career, not just for securing the subsequent job.
I know a poster above said it will be significantly easier to end up at MBB London from T2 London than from MBB Europe, but I disagree with this. Roughly 1/3 of my business school class (200 people) went into consulting and we sent a lot of people to MBB. Moving between offices is relatively easy once you’re established and you’re a good performer. We had people do internal transfers from NYC to London and many other combinations. It’s generally much easier to convince them to move you to a different office than to recruit directly into the company.
Currently in MBB in Milan and I’m being considered for all London processes, while my friends at T2 in London don’t even get reachouts from headhunters
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