Data compiled across 10 MF associate classes.
Nothing we didn’t already know. Megafund PE focused on the very best banks and schools. Even within the top schools and banks, data shows a stark reality of the concentration in hiring toward Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Penn, and Harvard.
MF Placements by Bank
MF Placements by School
| +126 | London MF REPE is paradise | 8 | 1h |
| +26 | The Difference Between a Good Business and a Good Acquisition | 7 | 2d |
| +19 | My Work Products Get 95% There, is that a failure or somewhat expected? | 14 | 2h |
| +18 | Career / Life Crossroads | 5 | 2d |
| +14 | Opinions on DTCP? | 5 | 23h |
| +14 | Partners misalignmet common? | 4 | 3d |
| +11 | on-cycle possible after lateraling? | 2 | 2d |
| +10 | PE Associate Recruiting from a PE Analyst Program | 3 | 1d |
| +9 | What does ₹1,034 crore actually buy you? | 1 | 7h |
| +9 | Wynnchurch Thoughts? | 0 | 20h |
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Ngl kind of surprised Dartmouth is that high up there.
everyone is connected
as a georgetown student with a sis at dartmouth, i hereby confirm that both schools are nepo and trust fund baby central
They’ve always been heavy hitters
For the amount of obsession over MFs, appears these roles are only going to a subset of analysts at the top banks, who also went to Ivies. Scary sight for everyone else.
Surprised to see that even Centerview and PWP have so few.
Don’t know how big GS or MS analyst classes are, but are they really blowing everyone else out of the water?
Have to feel for those who took an EB offer over GS/MS.
Class sizes matter.
The entire Moelis analyst class is the size of individual groups at GS or JPM.
If you look at it that way the EBs place equally if not better.
Also would estimate that 75%+ of the MF placements from BBs are coming from 1-2 groups for each bank.
What are the exits like for someone going to a BB but not in GS TMT / FIG or MS M&A?
how much harder is it to get to a MF from groups such as GS Industrials / Consumer / HC
Same thing for schools - there are some schools on the list that are much smaller than Harvard/Wharton but place at a much higher per capita rate
Lol kids at CVP dgaf about MFs when it would mean taking a paycut and significantly reduced chances at promotion
False. iykyk, anyone from CVP who can get a MF leaves for PE. Those who can’t get a MF stay on, pay is good but the work will bore you to sleep and the lifestyle is trash.
They also aren’t paying more than MFs, MM and UMM PE yes
Which are the MFs in sample
Non targets who think hard work can level the playing field in shambles
Originally a non-target myself - it’s like being a D2 5th year senior wondering why’s draft stock so low compared to some Alabama / UGa / Ohio State junior despite all the hard work, giving it all and being a standout all American academic honor roll in a D2 playoff team. Just not a 5 Star at Ohio State.
Guys like us often play semi pro or overseas. Same thing for non targets —small boutiques, TAS, FP&A, WM are all great “less prestigious” options. Not the major leagues but as long as you can accept you’ll never get there, it’s not so bad and still better than completely giving up.
There was a big realization in my life that I'm better off trying to get my kids down this path since I can't do it. But now I know the playbook, something my parents didn't. It really is multigenerational.
This strategy works until they ask you to foot the bill for their $400k masters in social work
I went to a state school (not on the list above) and am heading to a NYC MF. As with any personal anecdote, I’m just one data point, but it is possible. It is obviously harder and rare, but I don't want to discourage people like me.
Please can you identify the megafunds used here
Everyone gets MF from PJT RSSG, EVR RX, MS M&A if they want it
MS M&A placed pretty much all MF
What are the megafunds used in the sample? There are more than 10 megafunds.
Did you differentiate between ops/value creation team vs investment team? Find it shocking how well bain performs. This is means bain, and MBB in general, recruits better than most BB and EBs
Not really. Bain total US class size will be many multiples of an EB class size. Also it's easier to move to bain cap from there which is what I assume juices the numbers
Whats are average class sizes for EB and BBs?
The Bain Cap point is not true. Common misperception
Also important to keep in mind that most consultants avoid PE like the plague - Bain is an exception, but certainly helps contextualize McK and BCG numbers, which have a diamond structure compared to Bain's pyramid
Ya make no mistake … this is not a list of who gives you the best odds of going to a mega fund… MBB class sizes are massive, like I think my MBB class was 200+. There are far greater number of MBB peeps who not only strike out of MF, but strike out of PE completely, and they don’t have the option of going to a hedge fund and instead mostly do S&O at corporates or startups.
Right. But from my experience there is also way less interest for PE at MBB. Maybe only 20% of consultants are seriously gunning for PE, while that number is close to 100% for IB. So using total class size may not be the best estimate here but idk
Accuracy of this is pretty suspect. For instance, I went to Brown and can personally think of 4 people who work at MFs yet don’t see them on this list.
OP didnt specify which class he/she used. Maybe just a different year... or most recent ? Whatever
I can think of 3 associates at CD&R right now.. 2 at bcp.. many others
Agree
Is this just the most recent class (I.e. started banking in ‘22 then started PE in ‘24)?
UVA is surprising
Why is it surprising? Curious. I thought UVA was considered a good finance school.
Someone should make a list based on per capita.
Someone should do this for 5B+ funds, 1B+ funds, and 500m+ funds ….
Friendly reminder that it’s not mega fund or die, especially if you actually want to do investing lol
Nope, if your not working in an MF I will personally end you. Please stop spreading misinformation.
it means nothing below ~2-3bn since those funds don't care about background
Can we not do this shit anymore?
what is 'former PE analyst' ... like MM/UMM PE or other MF/(MF non-PE groups like PC or REPE)
As someone in banks rank 10-18, I think the list is a bit misleading and needs to go back at least 3-5 years as its not an accurate portrayal given you can have a weaker or strong class, etc.
Lmao the two CD&R guys putting Queens on the map
This data is so incredibly false. I personally know more than 2 CVP MF associates and simple LinkedIn search shows more for every class. PWP is definitely more than 1 as well lololol. Congrats on Georgetown sir
Hoya Saxa!
The list should have exits per capita. EVR should roughly the same exits per capita as GS/MS no? I believe their class size is smaller and they still have 14 associates
This is straight wrong…my bank is listed as having 5 here, but I know the actual number is at least 3x that.
Congrats on Dartmouth!
Go Big Green!
They be killas
Realistically the top 10 MFPE rankings by bank (per capita, this is very important ) is the following:
Switch MOE and JPM then LAZ and CVP. How tf are you saying CVP exits better than MS even on a per capita basis.
Because every single CVP analyst can go wherever they fuck they want. Not true for all MS groups.
how exactly do PE analysts recruit for oncycle? As in, how does it work logistically in the sense that I believed headhunters typically scout for banking analysts from top firms / groups. So logistically, do these PE analysts reach out to headhunters for chats or is there also a process from the headhunters side? Going to a UMM this year but would like to recruit MF, would appreciate any insights
Bump
bump
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