Top Undergrads taking PE/HF roles now?

is it true that a larger amount of top undergrad targets are taking roles as PE/HF analysts right out of undergrad now? I know this has been done in rare situations before, but is this becoming more common? Do these kids lose anything from skipping IB?

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While buy-side out of undergrad has always been an option, it has become more of a common choice out of undergrad for students interested in Private Equity / Private Credit / Hedge Funds; provides an easy path to becoming an investor and allows you to skip the 2-3 years of banking into an investing role. The people who succeed in these types of roles are the ones that take self initiative during their undergrad years and those who complete relevant internships. Investment banking will give you a more comprehensive training program that is structured and for those who don't know what they want to do and need a structured program IB is the best path, but for those who know they want to be investors and are capable of demonstrating it, they often join buyside firms out of school.

 

Do you think people who skip their banking stint lose anything in terms of variety of exit option opportunities due to not having the banking experience on their resume, like could they still exit to industry roles or leadership positions as easily?

 

You can still have the same exits to industry and leadership roles from PE. If you can land a PE gig out of undergrad, you’ll be in better shape than anyone doing IB for any exit. PE firms also all but guarantee M7 bschools admission, another way you could pivot into other exits.

I haven’t seen the same for HF guys. These guys don’t really have strong exits from what I’ve seen. I think there would be some cases where you should pick IB over HF. It depends on your career aspirations.

 
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