I am a second year pe associate at a mf in sf.
To other second year pe associates whose program is ending in 3 months, what are you thinking of for next steps? I like my fund but chances of promotion are low and not sure how i feel about moving downmarket as that seems to be a commoditized space.
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Go to business school and wait out this terrible labor market
A stint at a UMM as a SrAso would also be a fine idea. You don’t need to spend your career there
I would bias to the former but up to you
Issue is there aren’t many seats available
Bump following
How is anything more commoditized than MF?
Having worked in both, there is just a lot less competition for equity checks of $0.75-1BN+
But there are also way fewer targets of that size as well..
Same boat and agree. Way more quasi proprietary deals in this size range than in the $50-300mm range where 100 PE firms are looking at the same deal.
Lower competition doesn’t mean less commoditised. We write near those checks and it’s very commoditised in terms of what you do because the companies are so large and everything is banked and advised to death
Thoughts on moving to earlier-stage investing?
2nd year Analyst in IB joining a MF in ~4 months. Currently planning to go to B School after my 2 years, but also thinking about switching to VC/GE.
How common is MF PE -> VC? In particular interested in the larger VC funds (a16z, Sequoia, etc.)
Those type of funds typically want operating experience. Why not take a Chief of Staff / Strategy role after B-School?
Makes sense on the operating experience point, have heard that elsewhere as well.
Are you suggesting a chief of staff/ strat role out of b school to gain operating experience ahead of moving to VC? That is interesting and hadn't thought about it. Ultimately am interested in staying on the investing side longer term (vs. Ops) and wonder if a detour would take me "off the path" as it were vs. Recruiting directly out of B School
following
MF is the most commoditized space and space with the least possibility for true upside unless you are the best of the best. The people who become MF partners are typically either absolute rockstars, investing geniuses, or political geniuses who are risk-averse. MM space is far less commoditized especially if you are operating in enough of a niche to where you can generate genuine alpha. MFs are simply too big to where they are almost nearly tracking the market(some exceptions like Thoma Bravo exist, but they are in a similar boat to where they are specialized). For returns and longer-term careers unless you are super risk-adverse, being creative and having a moat is much better than the boring old MF PE in terms of potential upside.
I’ve always thought MF PE is good for either (I)exiting to something else (ii) bragging to your friends about working at Apollo
If you want to stay in PE long term, seems much smarter to find a $1bn -$15bn total AUM shop that focuses on a niche you like, pays well, and has a good culture
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