I'm trying to understand what the duration of a PE associate role is, especially at MFs. Not sure if there are any geographic differences, but I'm particularly interested in London.
I've always assumed the duration would be like 4-5 years before becoming a VP (so similar to banking), but I saw on LinkedIn people with 6+ years of work experience at MFs still being associates...
So can you please explain how it actually works?
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2-3 years
thanks for the reply. That's actually less than I expected. Do you know why some people end up being associates for so long? Really confused now, given the people I am referring to are at a top MF.
6+ years is pretty rare especially a single firm. If you don't get promoted within 3-4 years its typically a sign you aren't good enough to make it to the next rank and a firm would probably give you a soft (or hard) signal to leave after year 4.
2 years at associate before VP promotion is also really rare (at least in the UMM/MF space). Most common track you see is 2 years associate + 1/2 senior associate. OR if the firm doesn't have any sr. associate then typically it would be 3-4 years associate -> VP.
At a MF, we do 3 years associate + 0.5 year senior associate if they plan to promote you to VP. Zero flexibility on years in seat.
My UMM is 3 years to VP (No Senior Associate) but you find out at the end of 2 years if you get the VP promote or not.
3-5 years
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