Should I Leave ~$280K Corp Dev for PE?
Is it worth leaving a Corp Dev/M&A Associate role paying ~$250–300k all-in to move into PE in NYC?
I’m currently a Corp Dev/M&A Associate at a large company in Houston. Total comp is ~$250–300k all-in (high base, mid-low bonus). Team is heavy on transaction execution (good deal exposure).
The job is typically 9am–9pm, with all-nighters during major deal crunches. During downtime (~2.5 months/year), it’s closer to 9–5.
I’m considering moving to a PE Associate role in NYC, and I’m struggling with the opportunity cost. I’d be giving up a "relatively" good lifestyle and no state income tax, so I’m trying to understand whether the move makes sense financially and from a career perspective.
A few questions for those who have made the Corp Dev → PE transition:
- How much higher would PE comp need to be for you to make the move? Given NYC taxes and COL, would I actually save more money than I do today?
- How different are the hours? If I’m already working ~9–9 in Corp Dev, is PE meaningfully worse, or could the higher comp make the tradeoff worthwhile?
- How much does PE experience change your long-term career trajectory vs. staying in a transaction-heavy Corp Dev role?
- If I ultimately want to be in PE/investing, is it important to make the jump now, or can I get there later? My current role has significant in-house transaction execution experience.
- For those who made a similar move, was it worth it in hindsight?
I’m less interested in maximizing next year’s comp and more interested in the 5–8 year career + financial tradeoff.
Bump
Questions:
Actually, I’m currently a Senior Associate and have been in my current Corp Dev role for ~2 years.
I’ve closed 4 transactions so far, across both buy-side and sell-side processes (mid- and large large-capcap sizes)
Prior to Corp Dev, I did an M7 MBA and had a finance background (think FP&A/financial advisory), with additional transaction experience before that.
I don’t have a PE offer in hand yet. I’ve had conversations with a few funds and have started to see some traction, so I’m trying to determine whether it’s worth pursuing seriously before making a move.
A bit more context: I’d also like to live in NYC or another major city for a few years. I grew up in smaller cities, so that’s something I’d genuinely like to experience, even though I understand NYC isn’t for everyone.
The main question I’m trying to answer is less about maximizing next year’s compensation and more about long-term career value. I’m already working ~9–9 most days with occasional long nights during deal crunches and weekend work once or twice per month. I’m comfortable continuing to work hard for the next few years if it meaningfully improves my long-term trajectory.
I would not do it this seems like such a bad tradeoff. Corporate development gigs are super nice and so hard to come by (even though a lot of people on the forum acts like you can just walk into such roles easily after being in banking or consulting).
Your comp is really good and you are essentially at a seat that most people would like to exit for from PE.
PE on the other hand is just a maturing asset class with limited upside mobility and significant headwinds. There is no wave to ride here at the moment so I don‘t really see what would be the case for PE.
I might also be heavily biased by now but feel like majority of my friend circle dread their time at their funds, but they don‘t really have any exits lined up.
Nearly 300k corp dev gig is insane if that would be posted online on linkedin you would have hundreds of people applying the first day.
Sorry I don't mean to hijack post but I i did 2 years IB then now FP&A at a top startup and my all in is ~$340k but hours are 9am-10pm (somehow sweaty af for fp&a lol). Would this be extremely foolish to leave? I want to work a true 9-5pm but understand comp would be like $130k probably lol
Not who you're asking but PE-backed roll-ups pay ~$250k base + ~$100k bonus cash for a VP of Corp Dev level (+ equity incentives based on exit). Many of these positions are fully remote too but with travel involved for M&A. Hours def range depending on company and PE sponsor but I've talked to people who average ~55ish so can be great gig if you find right opp
I made this jump to a PE ASO job after 2 yrs banking 1 year corp dev
I don’t regret it because of long term angling / experience looking 20 years backwards. People just don’t really give credit to corp dev experience like they should (it’s real and sometimes better xp than PE)
I am about 2 years into my current pe gig and trying to lateral to a better platform. I took the investing role I could get, which wasn’t great tbh. Lower pay than my corp dev job (which was comped highly like your role but not as high, maybe 20-30k lower) and more hours (my hours were similar to urs - high deal volume shop). I’ve learned what I’ve needed to being here and now need to optimize for long term career growth and actual comp etc.
I think the rub is that you’re in a highly paid job but it feels really rigid and less learning to go around, you won’t move up very predictably and there’s a ceiling where you need to do the same thing for a lot of years before making a move. I indexed for learning and mobility in my move - as I was in a LCOL city like Houston but wanted to be elsewhere - probs why my company paid so much is no one wanted to move where I was, and is why the job pays highly in general. It’s paying you so you don’t jump to PE (that’s explicitly how my role was benchmarked - LMM PE+ comp). But I underestimated how much people will credit corp dev gigs with good experience as well and that corp dev can be the end all be all. It’s a great role with lots of rollup platforms that are very active and pay really well. I’d see those roles are hiring but you’ll
I commented in a rush earlier but I’m adding on more. I felt like I was working enough at the corp dev gig that I didn’t have a life. 9-9 best case 9-12 most case etc. and thought that my life was better than banking but the marginal trade off for having real PE experience would stick with me forever and I’d either jump and do it or never do it at all (you can always go to VC or other platforms that are different models from corp dev tho). And again… my life wasn’t a “good life” like I’d want to just “sit in with a good job for however many years” - if I had ties to my geo where the corp dev gig was I think it’d be a different story
One thing I’d note is that PE funds who are hiring are often 1) bad culture or experience with high turnover or 2) growing and need the hands but have their pick of candidates typically. Sometimes they pay less or are in odd geos just like your corp dev gig so you’re probably gonna eat some shit for 2 years be stressed out to prove yourself. But I think you’ll be in a better spot recruiting wise.
The role you jump to is likely NOT to be where you land long term re: dynamics discussed above and through the thread. So be prepared. It’s also not guaranteed you get a PE role. It’s tough and requires networking nowadays for unposted roles in my opinionGood luck. I also felt like I could re recruit for corp dev down the line
As someone with ~7 years experience in LMM PE, yes I would give PE a try for ~1-3 years especially if you think you will regret not trying PE ever in your career. With that said, echo above comments that many PE people are probably looking to do the opposite and exit to your corp dev seat or similar. Lots of headwinds against PE as discussed, and there's a good chance you join a PE shop that doesn't have a clear path to get promoted as well (and that's if you decide you want to be in PE long-term).
Looking down the road, I think going corp dev -> PE -> back to corp dev is definitely possible. You could position that you always wanted to try being an investor and then realized that you would rather focus on one company you have a lot of conviction in if you decide to go back to corp dev.
For me, if there was a corp dev opportunity with a company performing well, I had conviction would continue to grow and I'd work with a management team I like, I would take that over most PE seats.
It just depends on what you want out of life right now.
If you’re fine working hard for maximum upside, PE in NYC is the highest bang for your buck. If you want to settle down and take a pay cut for 40-50 hours, you can be patient and find something.
I don’t think your current role working 60-80 hours a week is as cushy of an exit as others are saying here.
What about the corp dev job you have now is causing you to want to leave? Is it the work itself? Is it the career path?
No
If you are looking for optionality and to do PE, even if it's for a short stint, it seems like now is a good time to make the move. It only gets harder as there are only so many entry points into PE as the hiring is generally fairly rigid. Since you already have some reps, you may be a good candidate for a LMM PE firm where there is more autonomy, although that will come with lower cash comp which seems to be important to you.
There are some headwinds in the PE world but depending on the specific scope, there are still some good seats out there that will allow you to learn directly from an investor POV which I don't think you necessary get in corp dev, granted I've never done CD.
9am to 9pm in corp dev sounds insane. Thought these jobs were more relaxing than IB / PE
Yeah this thread is eye opening. Corp dev is supposed to BE the exit
I think it depends on how acquisitive your company is and how focal M&A is. You're still doing deals, so in almost any M&A role, you are not working 9-5.
Pretty sure I know what group this is, Houston IB is famously an extremely grindy culture and one of the larger companies there is both very acquisitive doing big deals + the corp dev team prides itself on working a ton.
You get very good reps at a big name with this team but it's definitely not a relaxing exit
Who is it
Not from Houston but sounds like Quanta? Or are you thinking of an O&G firm
EQT for sure
Corp dev is not chill like people make it, the teams are usually extremely lean and there isn’t anyone for people to hide behind like how some do in IB. I know a decent amount of people who said their WLB did not really get better with their IB to corp dev transition. But it really depends on the company, their strategy and how acquisitive they are.
Speaking as someone who started out in Corp Dev, did PE for 5 years, then left because I hated it - unless the PE fund is a UMM/MF and you REALLY want to do PE (which you haven't really articulated why you want it, just that you do) I wouldn't recommend it. That Corp Dev gig sounds top notch and if you're getting good deal reps, that's really all that matters. You probably won't be able to recruit to a HF (doesn't really matter unless that's your LT goal) and carry checks are basically a decade-long gamble that the GPs at your fund will perform, you won't somehow get fucked over politically over your piece of a fixed pie, and that you won't want to at some point leave on your own.
Definitely do it. You are getting very well for your gig but hours suck and having even a few years of PE will make you look so much better to a wide range of actors. Plus you will likely be around smarter/more driven enviornment. Being in the right corp environment can be good for life balance but in general I think people on this board lose sight of how trapped much of corporate america can feel. Certainly plenty of dumb stuff goes on in PE but way way more of it happens in corp. Plus in corp you are not the product but a cog and that can end up very stifling. Can be really bad if you get trapped under a bozo head of corp dev / cfo etc. Hopefully wouldn't be the case but they are everywhere in corp. At least if you have a PE background, people will be reluctant to put you in that situation.
I don't think the outlook is great in either case but cash comp at PE (ignore carry) should be better than even your great corp dev comp and PE is going to milk mgmt fees for quiet awhile as the take forever to realize their ugly marks.
I would no question at all take PE gig.
I have done IB in both cities and I cannot put in words how much purchasing power and future wealth you’d be giving up by moving to NYC. There was a purchasing power calculator I came across once, believe it was from SmartAsset or NerdWallet but don’t remember exactly, showing that 300k in Houston was equal to 700k in NYC. I doubt you’ll make anywhere close to that as a PE associate (and even as a VP?) Ok sure if you hit it big in PE you can make millions but if you have what it takes to make it big in PE, who’s to say you can’t also progress in corp dev / corp finance to a higher roles making more than what you make in Houston? Chances are in 2-4 years you will get pushed out in PE. 250-300k in Houston is a substantial income. You can own a large home in the nicest areas of the city zoned to great schools or put your future children through great private schools if you want. You can live well below your means, play golf / tennis whenever you want and still stack away cash consistently by. The only reason I see to make the move is if somehow working in PE for a couple of years would give you even better corp dev jobs in Texas paying even more than what you make now, then you wouldn’t be risking much and it’s only upside.
Sentiment is there but you're gonna need way more than 250-300k / year to own a large home in the nicest areas of Houston and send them to private school lmao, it's not Des Moines, Iowa.
Im not saying you’ll buy a mansion in River Oaks but you can buy a 2,800+ sqft home in Memorial for around a $1M. That’s large relative to NYC and suburbs. Also there’s a difference from day 1 making $250k vs. making that kind of money for a decade (adjusted for inflation). There are private schools that cost $20k a year. You can afford that if you want on that salary.
do not do it
I mean what do you want to do next. 9-9s most days + occasional all nighters is insane for corp dev. Sure you're comped decently well, but is this what you want to do for the rest of your career?
I'd take the PE job if maximizing future optionality, or would look to move to a cushier corp dev slot personally.
And yeah you have to ignore the COL tradeoffs here, it'll never make sense to justify the switch if you do.
Try to see if you can negotiate for remote work.
This is basically the situation I was in before heading off to do an MBA to get into Private Equity. I did 3 years in management consulting before I got into corporate dev where I spent another 2.5 years. I was at a F500 Corp dev team for a bit before I joined a PE backed platform as a Manager. I was making about 250K in a LCOL city. I went to an M7 and recently got an offer for a post-MBA senior associate position at a growing industry specialized PE firm with a 1 year path to VP in a T2 city.
Congrats for breaking in without an MBA.I personally would take it. Corp dev is great experience, but it’s just not as respected as PE. A PE Associate can easily exit to around a Corp Dev Director (one of my directors in my F500 team was a senior associate in PE at a LMM firm before). If you don’t like it, your Corp dev experience combined with PE will give you massive optionality, and working in PE will give your resume a huge boost down the road if you’re ever interesting in PortCo exec roles. If you don’t mind the lifestyle hit (300K in NYC is like 150K in Houston), then I would go for it
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