Corporate strategy / SWF / MBA
Hey all. Just trying to gain better perspective on my options as I'm finally taking the next step in my career. I have been working at an MBB firm in the middle east for 4.5 years. This was sort of my plan B. I liked the work and stayed there until today. Staying around the region paid off though.
I currently have two offers in the region. Investment Strategist at a top SWF (~$500bn AUM) and a corporate strategy manager role at one of the region's largest national oil firms. Surprisingly, the latter offer comes with a ready 7 figures in base. I'm indifferent about the two, and also considering a third option - M7 MBA. Why MBA? for one simple reason - trying my luck with mega funds. I know it's such a stretch compared to ex-bankers and ex-PE already lining up, but I know two people who did it, it doesn't hurt to try.
Jot down your thoughts and how exactly you'd approach this. Thanks in advance.
Use your consulting skills to really dissect what you want to do (most important), the long term career ramifications from each, and what the worst and base case would be from each scenario. Jobs can be disappointing and you need to be comfortable with what happens if it is. These are different enough options that what you’d actually enjoy should vary a lot. You have not worked in a MF and you may completely hate it (read some of the threads here). I’m sure you have some frameworks that can help you lay it all out thoughtfully. Beyond diligence on the current opportunities, my suggestion would be to set up some “expert calls” by finding folks who moved from your background into all of these paths and get their honest thoughts on the good, bad, and ugly and the viability of your MBA strategy.
I will say, it is a long time before you will actually clear 7 figures in MF (you will on paper sooner) which as you say is a long shot. I also think MF recruiting will be tough with your background out of MBA if you are not female or DEI. Over the recent period, direct promoting has become more common and so the MBA recruiting channel is sometimes diversity focused (but not exclusively). If open to more UMM or MM, you have a better shot (still hard) and then could try to swim up from there (hard but can be doable if market remains hot). I don’t know if swimming up from MM is materially easier than swimming up from the SWF. Point of that being not to discourage you, but just to make sure you consider the downside case and that you’d still be happy and not regretful if that’s what happened to you.
Edit - just to clarify I missed the Middle East part of your post and so while the first part still stands, I wrote the part on MBA from a US PE perspective. If you’re targeting middle eastern arms of MF, that’s probably different enough that I’m really not qualified to cover, and you definitely should do targeted outreach with folks who actually know that market.
I can potentially transition from strategy to investment execution within a year, so that can also be a good experience for PE, right? I'm preferring this role to the SWF because, well, it's better. Better location, teams, exposure, comp, and paid vacation.
I am pretty sure working at PE at this time (associate 1) will be pain for little money. However, the experience itself is worthwhile in terms of moving up the MF or moving to VP at another firm, and also getting exposure to L/S HF pod shops. To get the salary I'm getting here in the middle east, it could take up to a decade. The money is really a huge dealbreaker it's making other possibilities seem filled with potential remorse. The problem with ME arms in PE in the US and Europe is that they're becoming less of a thing. ME investment firms are already grappling with each other to acquire every promising unicorn in the region very quickly, business is smoother that way.
I reiterate my prior comment that you need to do some soul searching and analysis on all of these jobs. Just following what you're saying - you're not sure what to do because you MIGHT like being at a MF. And now you're saying well the reason I might like that is that I also MIGHT like being a pod shop. Yes it's always a leap at some level, but get out there and do the homework and do your best to determine what you want to do.
If you really just want a nudge here, then unless you truly hate it - a 7 figure gig that you yourself say sounds pretty good and is 4-5 years out of undergrad may legitimately be a once in a lifetime opportunity that I would give serious consideration towards. The compound interest on that at your age would be ludicrous and if you're the real deal and willing to be creative should open more doors than the impressive, but still vanilla counter opportunities you're describing.
Have a hard time seeing an MBA being competitive with a 7 figure offer. If you wanted to orient your career to the US or Europe, I could see hesitation to take your career in the direction of O&G, but if you want to stay in the ME I don't think you need to worry about that as much.
If I were you I'd take the (serious) money, and if you figure out you hate it you can apply for an MBA in 2 years and have MORE than enough to cover the cost
Seriously, I’m wondering what corp strat manager position pays 7 figs to someone at an MBB for 4 years
This seems like a logical approach. No MBA, even H/S, is going to have an ROI that beats a 7 figure income x 2 compounded over a lifetime. Life's not all about money but it would seem any weakening of your app from applying with 6-7 years of experience vs 4-5 is not enough to merit passing that up.
Are you assured of a US work permit? That's a factor to consider if you are not USC.
Are you being hired to chalk out a green future? Or resurrect a slowly decaying industry?
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