For those of you finishing two years in PE this summer (or 3 for those in 3 year programs), what are your plans after? Would be interesting i think to see what people are doing post pe (lateral to smaller fund, publics, vc, hsw smba, corp dev, secondaries etc?) please share your current seat(mm, mf etc) and where you are headed after
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Yo mama.
Yo mama.
At a MF/UMM. Going to a MM firm because I wanted to change industry / strategy before considering grad school. I was in btw multiple career paths and thought it would be easier to just try it now and if I want to explore another then go to bschool.
Rest of my class is H/S and my friends not doing bschool are going to a HF, similar fund size PE, or left PE to Corp or an AI startup.
Is anyone staying
All of my friends went to 2-outs with the exception of three.
1. Tried to get the SA promote and didn’t and is going to a HF, which is honestly good for him bec they treated him like a dog. Don’t think it was talent based bec he was the top analyst in his group during his two years. Their firm is toxic af
2. Got a 3rd year offer last year but he can’t stay past that so he’s going to a similar size PE fund in SF
3. Got SA and loves his gig and wants to be a lifer
Middle East
At a MF / UMM and am staying for a third year. Likely don’t have a path to VP though so will need to navigate that. Took third year to buy more time given recruiting market is so tough. Looking for a senior associate seat with a path to VP but having a hard time finding that. Majority of my class is leaving. Of those leaving, I’d say 60% MBA / 30% HF / 10% corporate roles.
hiya. out of interest, of your class leaving what's the sentiment like? e.g., burnt-out, excited, greatful for the PE experience, regretful of the experience?
I’d say we’re all pretty burnt out (even those staying). Most people leaving just didn’t feel that the sacrifices required for a successful career in PE were worth it (eg working 70-100 hours per week). Many people also wanted to try something different because they didn’t see themselves in PE long term. I think most people (70%?) are glad they did the 2 years but I know some who say they would not make the same decision again.
At the end of the day, PE is a well established industry that demands significant personal sacrifices to stick it out. It’s a long, hard grind if you want to be a career PE investor and the asset class is facing some real headwinds now (eg current fundraising environment). This has been discussed in detail elsewhere on this forum. I think it’s totally valid to leave PE and do something else and the people leaving aren’t just those who “couldn’t cut it”. That said I’m staying in PE for now until I find something I’m more excited about.
Surprised no one leaving is looking for other PE roles
People definitely do. Just hasn’t happened this year (at least for people in my class). Firm is generally flexible with third year offers so I think people who want to stay in PE (like me) are sticking around one more year then will likely move if no path to VP.
Edit: To be clear, a bunch of the folks going to b school want to stay in PE and will recruit for VP seats. I think market made it less attractive for those forgoing an MBA to lateral now vs. do a third year and wait for market to improve.
Planning to transition to indirects + co-investments in the near term after having done a few years of PE. I still enjoy learning about businesses, investing and the overall asset class but realized the personal sacrifice isn’t worth it and I don’t see myself as a partner at a GP long term. The co-investments scratches the investing itch and doing fund commitments I think is more interesting than most people believe. Plus it’s fun to talk about deals but doing them is sometimes (often) not. These types of roles seem to value direct experience at least at the junior/mid levels.
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