MM PE SA 2023 Concerns
So I accepted a SA position (2023) for a MM PE firm (around 2-4 billion AUM) pretty early on. Culture seems great and I would get a lot of deal exposure. However, I'm starting to second-guess my decision because it seems as though starting off at a MM PE firm (assuming I get the FT offer) may yield worse exit ops to UMM/MFs, which I may want to do in the future. Also, I definitely want to go to B school (Harvard/GSB/W), so would working at a smaller firm that doesn't have as much brand name recognition hurt my chances?
I did get an interview invite at a megafund, but it's in their secondaries division with worse comp and less interesting work probably. I also know that Blackrock is opening up applications in a couple of months and have heard good things about their PE division. Is it worth risking reneging my offer to get the MF brand name early on in my career?? Any insights would be much appreciated, thanks.
You will be fine. Stop worrying
what's your firm's latest fund size?
Hey, I’m in a similar position to yourself but a year ahead (will be starting as an SA at a MM PE firm this summer). I think your path forward hinges on how much of a premium you’re going to place on brand name / optionality—if you think that you might want to pursue UMM / MF PE in the future, or something not directly related to investing like corporate strategy, it’s much easier to get there through the traditional route of banking or MBB. In that case, you can still recruit full-time at the end of your next summer. I personally wouldn’t renege, but I’ve seen several people do it without any obvious consequences—you are probably closing off future employment opportunities at that firm though.
You should also critically evaluate the firm you have an offer from—I think some good questions to ask yourself are:
Ultimately, there are plenty of folks who go the traditional path of banking to XYZ UMM / MF PE fund and then lateral downwards to the type of firm that you have the offer from. If you think that the place you got the offer from is a great fit and where you eventually want to end up—then why go through the pain of banking to maybe get a similar role in 2-3 years?
Hope this helps and happy to chat over PM if I can be helpful.
thanks so much - could I possibly get your username to send a PM?
yup, feel free to send a PM
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