Tier 2/3 GE vs BB?
Currently a rising junior, and I'm contemplating offers for 2024 Summer. I have an offer for a Tier 2 growth equity fund that is also not in a particularly attractive location. Doing banking this summer and have a return offer at a Tier 1 BB (Financing Group).
I am having a ton of trouble deciding which one to pick. Personally, I know I would love the GE work much better: interacting with entrepreneurs, doing DD (this particular firm does great with splitting sourcing and DD/post investment work), and just being in an environment with pleasant people. However, talked to a few mentors that all said that brand name matters more, and it's dangerous to start your career at a place without too much recognition even if you like the work better (also again, don't love the location either). The flip side, though, is that I was placed into the Financing Group at the BB and I'm not exactly sure if that's worth staying for either, just because personally I don't find it the most fulfilling work. I am allowed to utilize mobility but that's still after around 2 analyst years of sticking to your first group placement.
Any ideas on what to do? Is it possible to go to the GE fund, work for a few months, and lateral to a more recognized growth fund? And is brand name really that important? Personal anecdotes would be much appreciatead :)) Also would love if someone could reassure me that I don't need to be in New York to be happy haha
Idk...you're young, keep the name brand. Better alternatives will come over time.
I think it might be easier to lateral from a tier 2/3 GE shop to a better shop vs recruiting from a financing group at a BB. A friend of mine went from BB good group to a second tier GE shop for FT then upgraded to a better shop the next year.
On paper I don't see how doing financing would be better than having actual industry investing experience. Brand name matters to some level I guess if long term you wanted to do something in corporate, people would know Goldman vs Spectrum for example and by that point you would be senior enough where would it really matter where your first job was? If you are going to stick in finance, I would assume that someone will know that Spectrum is also a good shop and not discount your experience.
The response would be different if the two options were, should I do Goldman TMT or a tier 2/3 growth shop. The only issue I see is that the GE shop might not have a formal training program like banking but you could still always learn by asking/doing.
Can you give some examples of what you think a Tier 2 growth equity shop is? If you want to be an investor and the door opens for you to be an investor at a firm with reasonable visibility and name recognition then you should probably just go do it. Get the reps at what you want to do, not something adjacent to it (particularly if it's a very tangential adjacency like what you're describing).
Thanks for your help; I was thinking placed akin to Stripes/SGE/Spectrum. All definitely super great shops, apologies if I misranked them. Wondering if these shops provide enough visibility, especially if I want to explore startups later on when compared with GS/JPM/MS.
I would absolutely take one of those over a bank if I wanted to be a growth equity investor long term.
Echo this - can probably guess which one based on the unideal location you mentioned, but personally know people at 2/3 shops you mentioned who are all bright and will get looks at “better” shops in the future. Those shops in the future would be very hard to get from a financing group in GS/MS (figured it’s these two as JP assigns financing/classic later) as those shops usually take traditional IB/tech IB analysts. Go with investing.
If you want to be an investor long term, you should start in an investing role if available.
I was a summer intern at one of the GE firms listed and I'll give my thoughts. The advice I'd give is to really think about whether or not you want to be a growth investor AND in a sourcing role. Then, figure out how certain you are of that choice coming out of undergrad. It's quite hard to break into GE, but once you're in, it's easier to stay in the growth world and move around different funds.
However, if you take the offer, do the internship, and then realize you don't like sourcing as a role or GE as an industry, this is where your options get limited. It's harder, but still possible, to switch out of GE for more technical roles given that sourcing is your skillset. If you value optionality and still aren't as sure about GE, then the banking path would make more sense since you won't limit yourself, and you have a chance to recruit for GE again in the future.
So, figure out how certain you are that you want to be in the growth world and be honest with yourself if you really want to be in a sourcing role. Would you be comfortable spending 85% of your time managing a pipeline of hundreds of companies, sending cold-emails, cold-calling CEO's, and finding other ways to get in front of CEOs? If you're pretty certain your personality and interests align with this workflow, and this is how you want to spend the first few years of your career, then I'd go with the GE offer. If you're not sure about sourcing or GE as a career or out of undergrad, then I'd go with banking.
What does GE comp look like?
bump, the approximate comp range for the "Tier 2" funds mentioned would be appreciated
GE Comp varies a lot at the junior level across firms. The GE arm at MF's usually pay in-line or a hair less than PE comp. For the "Tier 2" funds: At the analyst level, Spectrum is confirmed $90k base for analysts (based on other sources on this site and recent job listings). Stripes is $100k base based on recent analyst job listings. Bonus across the industry is dependent on sourcing deals usually. Obviously no carry for juniors. Associate comp probably follows a similar structure, albeit higher base.
dude if this is fucking spectrum take that over BB any day that isn't tier 3
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