Left the best job ever at a HF where I was a top performer and barely worked weekends to chase the shiny coin that is Blackstone.
I can assure you, bigger is not always better.
Don't be me. If you're in a job that you like and is tolerable and pays you well, stay.
Maybe you already know this but if I can save someone the trouble, than this is worth the post.
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Top performer at HF (aka probalby making a lot of money) + great WLB... something doesn't add up here
I wasn't at a traditional fund and irs hard to explain what I was doing without doxxing myself. The upside is not as high as your trad HF job but yes the income was there and yes I was fucking retarded in my decision
Incorrect, "VP in PE - LBOs". HF is a different world, where intelligence > grabbing your ankles until 3 am
Yeah as smart as I am I'm a fucking idiot
But think about how fun it is to be in those holiday videos! They love being there so much they want to put overtime to shoot some creepy, unneeded video! Not even the murder of their colleague in the building takes away from the Blackstone kitsch; the show must go on. That's how authentic the place is.
Prestige chasing never ends up being justified. If you're happy at where you're, stay there as long as it takes.
Sorry to hear this. I'm in a similar boat right now - paid ~20% below what I think market is for directly comparable fund sizes and ~40-50% below if I went a bit upmarket in the same strategy as the vertical I lead at my fund.
Have been taking recruiter calls to see what else is out there, and there have been some very compelling comp packages previewed, but still doing some soul searching to figure out what the right threshold for incremental comp would be to justify the risk of leaving somewhere I'm comfortable, have a long term home, and have been for nearly a decade. It's tough balancing the known (I sort of know what my economic ceiling is, which is fine but not exciting) with the unknown (higher comp, higher ceiling, but everything else including culture / WLB , promo path, etc. not guaranteed) particularly when you're staring down the barrel of kids, mortgage, etc.
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