Essentially, I was a summer analyst at a top BB/EB, no return, now headed FT to a smaller MM PE Analyst program (3B fund). I'm wondering if I should keep trying to go back into banking because I hear these types of programs are way too risky and not worth it, any thoughts on if a PE firm this size is worth it or if I should try to get back into banking?
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Jumping straight into it: Based on the most helpful WSO content, a $3B MM PE Analyst role can be a solid opportunity, but it depends on your long-term goals and risk tolerance. Here's a breakdown to help you decide:
Pros of Staying in MM PE:
Cons and Risks:
Should You Try to Go Back to Banking?
Final Thoughts:
If you're passionate about private equity and confident in the fund's reputation and program structure, the MM PE role could be a great opportunity. However, if you’re uncertain about your long-term goals or feel the fund lacks stability, it might be worth exploring banking roles again. Networking aggressively and keeping your options open is key in either case.
Sources: Q&A: Former MBB Consultant, Q&A: 1st year VC analyst (~750M AUM), What is the point of doing private equity if you will be pushed out after two years to get an MBA?, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/breaking-into-private-equity-from-banking?customgpt=1, MM PE out of undergrad worth it?
I was in the same boat and honestly regret not just doing banking. Early on in my analyst program I was looking through old decks and realized that most of the deal teams were almost entirely gone outside of the partners. There’s rarely PE programs anymore that aren’t a crapshoot for upward mobility and tbh a LMM PE firm’s exits after associate years are a shitshow as the only skills you have are only transferable to other PE shops and PE rarely allows upmarket laterals and it’s hard to go PC/GE/VC when your only experience has been working on acquiring regional landscaping companies. To put it frankly most of the people I looked up who didn’t move up are doing random jobs in the middle of nowhere (might be harsh but corpdev at a large public company is a huge step from where they are now). Main Takeaway: Go with brand over anything, odds are you will likely need to find a job in the not too distant future.
Are you still with the same firm? If not, what are you doing now?
woud you call a 3B fund LMM? Also, if my goal is to go a hedge fund, does any of this change? Thank you!
Look at what past analysts are doing now. It should give a good indication
I am the first ever analyst class, do you think a 3B fund though is LMM or MM? is that reputable fund size>
It depends on the size of deals they’re pursuing, not the size of the fund.
I’ll offer a different perspective. Know a guy who started at a shop like this who is now a MF VP. He lateraled up market as a senior associate for 6 months then got promoted.
To the extent that you can learn on your own and you know PE is what you want to do I think it’s worth doing this out of college vs going back doing an extra year just to work in banking for two years when you know you’re going to recruit for PE anyways. And tbh, it’s way easier to lateral once you’re in PE than it is to land a good buyside offer these days from what I’ve seen
Unfortunately I think the real answer to this is firm dependent. I’m at a fund around the size you’ve described and we have an analyst program. We invest a lot of resources into developing our analysts, knowing that they’re choosing us over a top banking gig. The goal is to promote them to Aso if they perform, and the majority end up getting it. Turnover includes kids finding out PE isn’t for them (left for corp dev / strategic finance), and some recruit for Aso and move upmarket. None so far have gone to banking.
Where do your associates exit to, assuming they aren’t promoted to VP?
any chance you guy are hiring for analysts?
I have friends who were in a similar spot and did fine taking the PE analyst offer. $3Bn fund is pretty sizable, I’d imagine most in PE would be recognize the name.
You might have difficulty participating in on-cycle (but you can just reach out to headhunters yourself), but lateraling to similar firms is probably very doable and I’ve seen it often.
There are a lot of great analyst programs at funds of this size— off the top of my head I think positively of One Rock, Cove Hill, Stellex, Aquiline, and more. If your dream is to work at Apollo and you don’t want it any other way, then maybe Goldman’s better. If you wanted to be an investor and don’t mind being in the middle market, you’re in a great spot.
do you think I have a chance to move into large cap. PE? Not necessarily Apollo but just a larger fund like any MF?
MFs typically recruit associates through an on-cycle process. My friends who were at their firms as analysts chose to stay as associates to save themselves the headaches, but I know they networked with headhunters and could have pursued on-cycle. I’m not sure how successful they would have been, but there’s a thread on PE analysts doing on cycle on WSO.
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