PE associate Exits?
Why does it seem like 80% of PE associates that leave just go to strategic finance? Wondering why that was so common. I understand people get shoved out / promotions are tough.
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because almost nobody wants to do this more than 2 yrs in
Because the money aint a strong enough motivation anymore, due to carry being worthless and the job becoming grindier. Either you genuinely love that shit, or you find something else to do at some point.
as someone who was offered to stay on in PE and turned it down - at the wrong platform this job is incredibly miserable. No respect for your time or wellbeing and treated as a tool for endless work every single day. Think it is a worthwhile experience but genuinely have been pushed to the brink in PE much more than I ever was in banking
If you could go back and work at a LMM/MM firm with better culture, would you?
Can you provide more color? Why was it so bad? Is PE a job u can never just "coast" and not give a fk? What do you do now? Really appreciate it.
I am still in my second year of PE at the same firm (UMM tech buyout), but I will soon start looking for a new role this fall rather than take senior associate (I just wrapped up a summer in which I worked a ton on live deals and have not had time). I am leaning towards chief of staff as I did tech banking and tech PE / find operating work to be interesting from my portco experience. I am not looking for something "chill" by any means and am still quite ambitious but would like a bit more normalcy in my schedule
In PE, people are a lot more bought into the job than bankers on average and are willing to do whatever it takes to get deals done and progress up the hierarchy. The people who do well genuinely love the job and want to work at it all the time. At least in banking there was camaraderie and people were more realistic as to it not necessarily being the greatest thing in the world. At the PE firm I work at - you can never really coast. As soon as deals end - you have to catch up on portfolio work, various reporting streams, early market work and sourcing. Also - if you are a strong associate - you will constantly get strong (often sweatier) staffings and no real downtime
No, you cannot just "coast" in PE at any half-decent firm. In that respect it is meaningfully different than banking.
For me, I became laser-focused on improving sustainability and working max 50 hours a week. PE was a great learning ground, but I needed to prioritize my health and wellbeing. Loved my firm and the culture, but hours in general were too tough on me - especially after banking
I love this approach, do you mind sharing what steps you made to achieve this and what where some of the careers post PE you focused on? I'm coming from ER and am also trying to move to a job where 50 hours is the max.
What roles you targeting? I know multiple people in strategic finance at the right companies who all make $250k+ 50 hours max.
Ignore title; I was formerly an associate 2 in PE, who just left to go into strat fin/corp dev at a portco of my UMM firm.
Think people who leave PE for corporate roles fall broadly into 4 categories:
1) They enjoy operations more than investing, 2) they straight up don't enjoy investing but don't know what they want, and so go into something like a generalist role (i.e., chief of staff) role to figure out what they enjoy, 3) realize they want better WLB/don't envison PE lifestyle is something they want to/can do long-term , and 4) simply get pushed out of PE.
If coming out of a reputable MM+ firm, 4 is truly rare; there are almost always LMM spots you can take, or you can always go to business school. Ultimately, post your 2 years, if you choose to commit to PE, it is in essence for the long haul, given you'd have to start forfeiting carry post SA or VP level, which is psychologically very difficult for people to do. For the vast majority of people, PE is not the way forward.
What does comp look like for strat fin/corp dev after 2+2?
Bookends are probably $180k-$270k, with most between $200-$240 all in
my roomate was evercore IB then thoma bravo 2 years now at a startup in strategy all in of $290k cash + equity on top (dont know the value or amount), hours are 9-4pm
Is this assuming NYC/SF COL? What would you say for a more MCOL area?
Do you think 150k all in is low ball for post just the 2 IB analyst years? Obviously much lower than my Associate salary at 175 rn but hard to gauge…
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