PE Analyst Lateral

I'm Currently a PE Analyst at a LMM fund in a tier 1 city. I have a couple years of experience in a very different industry and geography, so I don't have a very established network in finance. I'm not confident that my current fund is a good long term fit but enjoy the work and vertical that I'm in.

Any recommendations on how to explore lateraling? Is it recommended to work through headhunters to try to get on-cycle Associate looks and transition in 2 years, network directly with individuals at other firms, or just do resume drops on LinkedIn? Is there a significant risk interacting with people who might know the partners at my firm? 

8 Comments
 

Depends where you want to lateral.

MF would be possible but extremely unlikely unless you have grad school experience or some other exceptional factor since they are looking for deal experience and MM is just such a step down from MF deals.

UMM is more probable but still highly unlikely. Again, they are looking for BB analysts and top target candidates out of undergrad. Unless you have a strong resume and good backing, most UMMs would rather not take a risk.

Another MM PE firm is very doable though. You could probably go to a more “prestigious” one or at least up your comp if you have a good resume.

But if you are really set on MF/UMM, i’d say getting into an M7 MBA is your best shot.

 

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