Currently a second year associate (more than 2 years now) who has not done a single platform deal at my mf (have done one add-on).
Is this usual for people at megafunds since we do less deals than mm? Am i in a bad spot and try to lateral. Comp has been strong and am well respected
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Bump quick
2021 and beyond were pretty terrible years to join as Associates. All of the deals happened in a 1 year span between mid-late 2020 to mid 2021. I don’t think anyone would hold it against you, but it’s just the reality of the situation.
Yeah it is really annoying. Everyone in class above me has 2 platforms cause they joined in 2019 or 2020
Super common, just think about how many deals groups do per year and how many associates there are
Will i be able to get another pe job or am i scrwed
You can definitely get another PE job. Take a deep breath.
You will likely be at a disadvantage to people with PE deal experience for recruiting out of a PE program. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I only say this as I've been doing lateral recruiting as I'm not interested in an MBA. Almost every interview (publics or privates) wants to talk about deal experience and it's much easier when you have one on your resume. At some point, it's more useful to have banking deal process experience than PE associate experience. I'm not sure when this switch happens but in 2020/2021, I saw a number of MF/UMM PE firms (Bain, TB, KSL) hiring mid-level bankers as laterals instead of people out of MBAs or Sr. Associate laterals with no deal experience, etc.
That being said, your career isn't over or anything. Definitely try to get any job you are interested in and apply to things without stressing about the deal experience. Just know this is an uphill battle you'll have to manage. Some ways to circumvent this:
If you go the MBA route, I'm sure you'll be able to get in on the back of a good MBA brand + good bank + good recs. However, OCR for even top MBA programs sounds brutal and doubly so for a white/indian/asian man. I'd start strategizing earlier and maybe even soft networking with people/alumni of your undergrad if possible to build relationships to try to at least guarantee an interview when the time comes. I don't think many people do this and I don't understand why. If you meet someone earlier for a coffee to ask them for advice and make a good and friendly impression, they'll remember you well and potentially help out in the future. Go in with no expectations and assume you are just making a new contact/friend and receiving advice. Have intelligent things to say about what you / your group are seeing at work when you set up these calls. No need to talk about a certain deal and reveal trade secrets but general comments on deal flow, types of deals you are seeing, valuation expectations etc. help and I think since you are working people will ask about this casually.
Idk why people obsess over megafunds. Could have gone to a mm and got much better deal exp
In MM - I suppose it’s a trade off between breadth and depth.
In many cases going to a MF for 2yrs as an Associate still puts you in the running for basically any PE job / HF job you want. It is peak optionality.
How many platforms did you work on that were deep / advanced / nearly closed,? Surely you must have at least a few that you can talk to
Best of both worlds is likely umm - get both deal reps and prestige
Inclined to agree. Good comp which probably makes the tradeoff between WLB worthwhile but also good experience.
I'm in a similar position (3rd year Assoc at MF, based in London). I've only done one platform deal (signed in Dec-22). ~50% of my peers here have not done a deal at all.
In my view, if you're on-track for promo at your current shop I don't think lack of deal experience is a great reason to jump ship. If anything, lack of deal experience will hurt you more if you move elsewhere vs. staying put where you have credibility. People at your current shop know what you're capable of and which potential deals you've contributed to that haven't gotten done for one reason or another. You won't get that benefit elsewhere.
Agree with you - just very disappointing. I think 1 platform is more than enough though if it is a chunky equity check
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