Career Advice

I currently work for a smaller office as the lead acquisitions person for the office. I am responsible for sourcing the deals, debt, and equity, along with putting together operating teams or bringing on operating partners. I have extensive knowledge on the asset class and started with limited knowledge of properly sourcing the deals, debt, and equity (responsible for negotiating terms on this as well). I know have a more extensive understanding of these overall but being young, I still lack the knowledge that a more experienced person in my role would have. My comp is solid at 120k+ salary, a portion of any acquisition fee my company is entitled to, and a small portion of the promote my company is entitled to. Clearly, the upside here comes from getting deals closed. I have been at the company for about 2.5 yrs and to date we have closed on 2 deals for a total of $30M which is well short of what I expected us to get done. When do I know it's time to move on and start looking to make a change to a different company? I really enjoy the work and the asset type overall. Appreciate the help.

 
Most Helpful

The comp structure overall is pretty good if you're still young. Granted, depends on COL and hours working but overall not too bad. I will say that being tied to deals done is a little unfortunate for the past 18 months as not much has transacted and probably won't for another 6 months+. I would say to stick it out until this fall and see how the market shakes out for now. There aren't a ton of job postings and the ones that are being posted probably are not going to give you acquisition fees, promote, and a high salary. When market activity picks up and you start doing more deals, the position you're in could be very lucrative but if not, then with the increased deal flow across the market there will be more openings for you to look at. 

I will say that it also could depend on the IC's risk appetite. Some shops don't get out of bed for a deal that's less than 20% IRR plus they're hyper conservative, and so when bid ask spreads are this far apart you'll never transact on anything. If that's the case for you, then you'll likely only do 1-2 deals a year even in a good market and you'll be in the same space. If they are just not finding any deal at all that they like, but open to deals across the risk spectrum, then when the market picks up it should be much better for you.

 

Saepe officia officiis voluptates est. Earum aut eius possimus alias eum occaecati. Molestias repudiandae quidem qui consequatur voluptates deserunt commodi.

Commodi odit fugiat tempore vel. Quasi iure assumenda enim omnis quos fugit. Reprehenderit iusto impedit qui rem sunt non.

Officiis et commodi earum qui. Facilis repellendus nihil possimus recusandae ipsam voluptas deserunt. Ut distinctio facere tenetur fugit. Eos maiores quia ut placeat quidem et quis. Dolorum voluptas laboriosam suscipit rerum voluptatem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

May 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 04 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

May 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

May 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

May 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (88) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (67) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (146) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”