MBA to EM Infra Investing?
I’m a T15 MBA student with a US military officer background and no prior finance experience. I’m looking for guidance on how to reach my long term of infrastructure investing in emerging markets, particularly power/renewables, transportation and logistics, and digital infrastructure.
I understand that direct recruiting for traditional large-cap PE investment teams is highly unlikely without pre-MBA banking or investing experience. I’m more interested in specialist EM infrastructure funds or developer-investors such as Helios, CrossBoundary and A.P. Moller Capital. The impact and experience matter more to me than near-term compensation.
I’m evaluating two post-MBA routes:
- Recruit for a specialist EM infrastructure fund or developer-investor.
- Recruit for investment banking groups covering PU&I or industrials and attempt to move into principal investing after 2–3 years.
Most articles on IB-to-PE recruiting focus on analysts entering traditional buyout funds. I’m trying to determine how different the market is for Associates and MBAs entering smaller infrastructure and emerging-markets platforms.
Questions for anyone with experience:
- Are any smaller infrastructure firms receptive to nontraditional candidates directly out of MBA?
- Would 2 years as a post-MBA IB Associate open doors to larger infra firms like Actis and I Squared, or primarily improve my odds with the smaller funds?
- Does post-MBA IB Associate experience translate to underwriting and investment-team positions, or primarily into portfolio operations or corporate roles?
- Are smaller developer-investors materially more accessible than conventional infrastructure PE, or do they require similar transaction experience?
- Which banking groups provide the strongest preparation for EM infra investing: 1. PU&I, 2. Industrials with a Transportation & Logistics focus, 3. Metals & Mining, or 4. Project Finance?
- Any tips for networking with EM PE firms? Cold Linkedin outreach has been unproductive so far.
Thank you for any help.
Bumping, infra in the EM space seems really interesting
Quis architecto est dolorum dolore eos deserunt aperiam doloremque. Suscipit aut totam omnis cumque quam. Minima et quae sunt at tenetur fuga quasi. Porro maxime quisquam aut quisquam.
Nam delectus vel aspernatur animi quis aut voluptatem molestiae. Vitae nisi velit incidunt dolore dolor officia repellendus. Error in natus atque error dolor repudiandae in. Quis aperiam aut facilis similique voluptas. Quaerat perferendis doloremque ut praesentium nesciunt illum. Nostrum omnis dolorem aut dolores esse eos ad enim.
Dolore repellat pariatur voluptatem voluptatum rerum animi totam. Sint ea ut nulla reiciendis exercitationem et. Inventore quia eos iure nisi.
Temporibus debitis architecto distinctio veritatis est. Et fugit sed ut rerum ex ut.
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...