Moving from LevFin / Private Credit to PE Buyout – How to Position My CV?

Hi all,

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I’m currently a Senior Associate at a large balance sheet bank in a LevFin team (Europe), having previously spent 3–4 years at a Private Credit fund. My long-term goal is to move into PE buyout, so I’m trying to optimize how I position my CV.

My current role is a mix of LevFin and M&A, although it’s not the bank’s core LevFin team that works on the larger transactions. We’re more focused on the small-cap end of the market. We primarily do the acquisition financing for smallcap PEs but also help exisiting clients we’ve financed in the past on ownership-related topics. For example, we support existing clients, who may need to think about successions with ownership transitions, including helping them sell their businesses, preparing smaller sell side marketing materials (no auctions though), approaching PEs we’ve worked with in the past, reviewing LOIs, etc.

I’m now updating my CV and am unsure how best to frame the experience. Given my private-credit background, I’m considering highlighting the M&A aspects more prominently. Obviously, the M&A exposure isn’t directly comparable to “real” M&A advisory, but I think it could help position me better for PE.

I previously tried to move into PE during my time at the private-credit fund, but received very limited interview opportunities. A few headhunters told me that making the transition from private credit to PE can be difficult.

How would you position this profile in PE processes? Would you emphasize the M&A / ownership-transition work, or stick primarily to the LevFin work?

I’m concerned that my „unique“ current role may come across as somewhat difficult to categorize given the mix of LevFin/M&A work and the lack of comparable groups?

Would appreciate any thoughts on how you would frame the CV and the overall story for PE recruiting.

Thanks