Non MBB --> PE/VC

I have seen a ton of content on this site about Ibanking --> PE. Why can't management consultants in FS break in? Granted they have similar skillets, why is it so much more difficult? Would it only be possible for MBB? -Genuinely curious

7 Comments
 

Also interested in this question. I'm currently applying for Strategy&'s Deals Team and I think it would certainly be possible to exit into PE from this job (if I get it).

 

PE teams rely on their deals team and usually dont have an operational team. An IB background is much more suitable when working with financial models.

McK/Bain flow into PE pretty frequently like @redfishbluefish said, but Parthenon and LEK place into MM pretty well. Ive heard that OW is a mixed bag as a FS background doesnt translate to PE as well as other firms

 
Best Response

I think you need to differentiate between fs consulting and IB. In consulting, financial services can be the industry, but not necessarily the function. In IB, financial services is the function, but not necessarily the industry.

I.e. you could be working for OW on the behalf of a regional bank to help them dig into their growth strategy. The industry here is financial services, but the function is not financial services. That differs from IB in which you will be doing M&A/ECM/DCM (read: fs) for companies in a range of industries.

PE firms like to hire consultants generally who have worked on a lot of commercial due diligences, because this is similar work to what is done in the investment team at a PE fund (or they just hire from MBB for the smart people/name brand). That’s why you see firms like Bain/McK and then LEK/Parthenon/OW place into PE. These firms do a lot of PE CDDs, and there aren’t many (any?) other major players in the CDD consulting space.

 

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