I'm a first year associate in the port ops group at a MF PE firm with 4 total years of experience (2 yrs in corporate finance + 2 yrs here). My role is 100% portco work, mainly supporting CFOs with M&A strategy and long-term planning, plus some value creation stuff. I really enjoy the role but have decided it's time to move on soon because there's no clear path to advancement — the seniors in my group were all either MBB partners or have C-suite experience (or both), so I would hit a ceiling pretty fast. My long-term goals are to either be a PE operating partner OR a C-level role at a PE-backed company. I've spent some time thinking, and I see two possible next moves for myself to get there:
1. Join a portfolio company in a manager-level corp dev/strategy role (One portco CFO has soft offered this). This is the most direct path and I would be coming in at a high level for my age, but I have some concerns about long-term development (i.e. am I getting the best skillset here, and would it be a long slog to get to a senior level role? Plus, I have no real "client-facing" experience)
2. Go to business school next year, recruit for management consulting, develop industry expertise, and work towards PE port ops or an operator role at a portco. This is a complicated and less direct path but my thought is that it might set me up better for the long term (again, all my bosses came from MBB). My group has sent associates to H, W, Booth, and CBS, which is super attractive to me having gone to a complete non-target undergrad and not having a great professional network. But there's also no guarantee I would successfully land MBB, which is kind of a big risk.
I guess my question is, which of these paths sets me up for the best long-term career with my stated goals? Also open to any general advice. Thanks all.
How come you feel you will hit a ceiling?
I am wondering if you have spoken to your manager or skip about this as I am also in a Port Ops role at a MF and similar to you my team is all MD level with the exception of me. I’ve asked about career progression and it was communicated to me I can stay in this role my entire career if I wish while moving up!
I could stay here and continue to move up – by "hit a ceiling", I don't mean I would be pushed out or not be given promotions. It's just hard to imagine that I would develop as strong of a skillset in Port Ops as would a consulting partner or a CEO/COO in industry, because the engagements are more surface level. And I think that's validated by the fact that none of the seniors here are career-long port ops. Note that I'm talking about the "generalist" kind of Port Ops role – this might be less true of the specialist track, where you're exclusively doing something like go-to-market or supply chain optimization. In that kind of role, I think it's easier to build a career there.
Wondering if you have thought about MBA into Investing seat?
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Can I ask how often you travel for your job? Also, how much different is your compensation compared to investors at your fund?
I travel pretty rarely - once every 1-2 months if there’s a particularly hands on project (such as a live deal) where it’s helpful for me to be there in person. Seniors in my group travel more frequently.
My compensation is significantly lower than deal team. Base salary is only marginally lower, but my bonus is 15-20%, whereas deal team associates can get 100%+. However, that’s balanced by the fact that I work significantly fewer hours.
What is the hours/lifestyle like? I'm an MBB post-undergrad interested in a role like this, because I'd prefer to do similar work for my own companies (not a client).
What about going downstream to a UMM or good MM (i.e., strong in an industry where you could see yourself focusing long-term) for a PE Port. Ops title bump that will set you up for a lateral into a portco at a higher level?
When you think about the next step from there, I guess the question becomes how to weigh a C-level role at a small(er) portco vs. a less-senior role at a large(r) portco
That’s an interesting idea. I hadn’t considered that. I don’t think I would be ready for a C-level role with only 5-8 years of experience at that point, but maybe at least a director level role. It’s a good thought.
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Have you seen anyone from a portco get hired by the PE fund?
Like maybe a high performing VP who then gets deployed at other portcos?
You’re saying a PortCo manager being hired later for a different PortCo? Yes, that happens all the time in PE. It’s common for the deal team to fill roles with people they’ve worked with before, especially CFOs.
Minor comment, but if you get into an M7 school, you have a pretty good shot at MBB. It really isn't that tough if you jump through all the hoops and are moderately professional.
It seems like that was true for the last couple years with the post-pandemic hiring boom, but I saw a post recently saying MBB interviews were down significantly this year due to economic uncertainty and overhiring in ‘21-22, so I’m not sure.
MBB interviews are indeed down right now, but given cycle to apply, get into school, graduate I am 95% sure it will be business as usual by the time when you need to find a job.
I’m a in similar position to you (I’m just a little more junior) and feel the same way about my career development. I feel like the path forward is much less clear than for IB or PE analysts/associates.
Would you maybe interested in switching to the investment side? I’m sure some funds would be open to that.
I've thought about it, but I'm not 100% sure that I would enjoy it. Obviously the comp is great, but everyone I know who does PE investing works much longer hours. I don't think I would last more than a few years there, so I'm not sure it's even worth it. I would also probably have to go to a much smaller fund.
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