- Currently working in Investor Relations / Fundraising at a PE firm
- Prior experience includes 2 years JPM IB in Consumer & Retail and 3 years JPM CB in Oil & Gas
- Also did an internship with Barclays Consumer & Retail
- Received offers from Evercore (NY), Barclays (NY), and GS (Houston)
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Career Resources
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What tips do you have for an incoming IB SA at a large bank? Back when you were still in IB, was there anything your interns did that made you like or dislike them? I'm trying to figure out what are the best ways to maximize my chances of getting a return offer.
Nothing earth shattering! 1. Have a great attitude, no matter what work comes your way. Some interns have it in their minds that they want to work on a sell side etc. and quite honestly the work that you will likely get is the work the Analyst / Associate doesn't want to do. Do that job super well and they will appreciate you. 2. Work really hard and prove you can take the grind. Don't leave before your Associate or Analyst if you are working on a project with them. When you finish your work, ask them how else you can be helpful if you see them still working. 3. Triple check your work. Actually print your output out and sanity check it. You'll find so many busts this way that you didn't find while looking at your screen. This might be my #1 tip because almost every single intern makes this mistake.
I also did a blog post on my top 10 tips for new analysts / associates here in case you wanted to check it out.
As someone who will be interning in IB within the CR team this summer, do you have any advice on how to best gain industry specific knowledge, any tips that you would recommend, etc?
Thank you!
I would just read the Consumer & Retail portions of the WSJ 1x a week. Consumer is here and Retail is here.
If you really want to, you could go back and read the last year or so's worth of news in those sections. Often times people will reference those events and this way you'll have a decent foundation to build upon.
Some additional tips on how to prep for your summer internship are on my blog here.
What made you pick JPM over Evercore?
I really wanted to do Consumer & Retail and the Evercore offer was a generalist one vs JPM was a group specific one. Evercore's C&R team had just turned over at the time so I was pretty sure I wouldn't get much exposure to that sector. Heard they have hired some good C&R bankers since then though.
PS - if you have a sec, I'd really appreciate if you could check out my new blog here. It is based on my experience as a woman in the financial services industry!
Why the switch to IR? Hours / comp versus IB? Is there a direct path upwards at your current firm?
It was probably 50% lifestyle and 50% passion / interest.
Don't get me wrong, there are still a ton of people who can do a really great job balancing work and personal life while doing IB. I just didn't LOVE what I did, which makes it really hard to dedicate that many hours to something. I did a deep introspection into what my strengths and weaknesses are, what I really wanted in a job, and IR was the perfect fit.
Hours are way better. I haven't worked a weekend in the first 13 months so far. I work about 45-50 hours a week. Can go up on a really busy week, but those are rare.
I did not take a pay cut. Bonuses are all cash vs bulge bracket banking includes stock for Associates. There is an element of equity in PE (carry), but that's on top of the bonus.
There is a direct path upwards at my firm - that's a really great point and something I always advise people about looking into when they are considering making the move into PE IR.
In case you are interested, I did a blog here on how I figured out what I wanted to do post-banking.
Hello! Thank you very much for taking the time to write this AMA, I hope you are well. I am currently on the advisory side of a private funds groups and am choosing between moving onto IR vs investing. By any chance would you be able to share the contents of the blog you wrote to decide what you wanted to do post banking? I tried clicking on the link you shared but it says the blog is no longer available.
Apologies for the inconveniences caused and thank you,
VormundBanker
How would you say exit oops differ between oil&gas (energy) vs other coverage groups. Are mega funds still realistic if you do energy at a top bank?
I personally did not recruit for a PE investing role. But, I have friends and family who did, so this is just based on the things I have heard from them.
Exit opportunities are just as good in O&G vs C&R. I can't speak a ton about other coverage groups. I think the key thing is just doing a coverage group you are interested in. I saw people get really coveted placements in both industry groups.
Yes, mega funds are realistic if you do energy at a top bank. But, I think you will be pigeon-holed into that sector. My sister did Evercore O&G and is now working at Blackstone in NY doing Energy.
Why did you choose to IR in-house as opposed to joining a placement agent? What would you see as the pros / cons of each path?
Interested in the above too. I'm guessing you joined 1 of the MFs who have an in-house IR team?
Are you able to shed some light on IR compensation in general for placement agents?
Not a MF, but a large fund w/ in-house IR team
I can't speak to comp for placement agents. All I know is that I spoke to a woman once who mentioned they got paid 2% on new commitments. Sorry! Can't really be too helpful here.
Not OP, but I briefly looked at both types of roles and my view is that being at a placement agent is analogous to sell-side banking and is much more transactional. You're going to be more at the behest of your clients and therefore probably have worse work-life balance. IMO being in-house (as long as it's a place that constantly is raising new funds and has varied strategies - by geo, sector, asset class, etc.) would be the way to go.
I honestly did not even know much about placement agents when recruiting. Now that I have more experience, I think I like IR in house because I can be 100% focused on my firm and so I feel like I can be better at my job / add more value. I also don't think I would want to constantly be selling the next thing. I got to pick the firm and the people I like and that's the one I get to market. I think my firm is a good balance between the two since we are fundraising every year or every other year (vs some firms only do 1x in 5 years or are constantly fundraising different strategies). We also have 400+ LPs so plenty of exposure (vs some firms have 20-40 relationships).
hi thanks for doing this! could you please speak to salary and bonus ranges for associates, Vp, MD in IR at a PE firm?
Happy to help. It varies A LOT from place to place. At my firm, it is comparable to IB at the Associate level. I am only guessing that is true at higher levels, but I haven't gotten to that point yet!
could you possibly talk about exit opps from an IR team aswell please!?
Based on what I have seen, people stay within some type of IR function. I think most people go to another PE shop to do IR. I have seen people go into HF IR and placement agents as well.
One thing I do not think works is someone who goes into PE IR in the hopes of going into PE investing. Better to just recruit for PE investing
Hi, thank you for carving out some time to give advice!
I sent you a PM with a few questions, hope that's ok. Thanks!
Will take a look at it and get back to you.
For others who may want advice on an anonymous basis (or just a quicker response from me), please send questions in to my 'Ask Me Anything' sticker on my instagram account, viewfrommadisonave.
Did you lateral from IB into CB or vice versa? What advice do you have on first year analyst lateraling into another team internally? And, can you shed some light on how that conversation was like with your manager?
No, I worked for 3 years in Corporate Banking and then got a full scholarship to get my MBA. So I did that and then went into IB post-MBA.
What group are you trying to lateral from? I would work in the group ideally for 2 years if you can before trying to move. Having your team's support is going to be really helpful. I have friends who have successfully moved teams. The conversation is tough, but those who have proven themselves FIRST, then were open and honest about the move, were the ones who I saw had the most success. It is something that I would flag with your resource manager during reviews at the right time (ie not 6 months into the job).
PS - if you have a sec, I'd really appreciate you checking out my new blog here. It is based on my experience as a woman in the financial services industry!
What made you realize that you wanted to do IR? What types of people do you think are better suited for IR compared to staying in IB or PE investing?
Do you think the skills and personality necessary to succeed in IR can be developed or is it more like you either have it or you don't?
Please check out the response to NESCAC above!
Short story is I didn't have a huge passion for the finance / numbers side. I could do it, but it was never the part of the job I loved.
I think IR fit me better because I enjoyed communicating (ie reading/writing) and working with people. You are interacting with investors and people within your firm constantly. You also have to think through strategy and messaging as well as how to target new investors.
My husband and sister are on the PE investing side. Their personalities are polar opposite from me! They love to dive deep into a deal, its numbers and the in's and out's of why it works. I personally like to stay higher level and explain the deal's rationale.
I absolutely believe the skills necessary to succeed in IR can be developed. Same with on the investing side. But I do think it is easier to play to your natural strengths!
PS - if you have a sec, I'd really appreciate you checking out my new blog here. It is based on my experience as a woman in the financial services industry!
Are you benefitting of a carry as a PE IR?
What's comp look like. do you still have the carry upside in comparison to an investment professional
1) Could you please walk through your typical responsibilities and what your day looks like when on a live fundraise vs generic day. I get the impression that PE IR is basically just Sales, is this true?
2) how is IR at a PE fund different to IR at an investment bank? I mean no offence to anyone that may work in IR at a bank but I’m an IBD analyst (ignore my WSO title I just haven’t updated my profile since I was a student many years ago) and everyone in IR at my bank is basically the cliche hot girl or glorified personal assistant that just puts together marketing materials and is responsible for roadshows and speaking with investors to organise meetings etc. It feels like a very basic admin based role that an IBD professional is over qualified for?
3) also you mentioned that your comp is the same as IBD is this market standard or does your firm pay well? As for all the IR roles I’ve been headhunted for (even for large funds) it’s a pay cut to IBD e.g. I was headhunted for IR at a large well known PE fund but the associate 1 comp they offered was $100k base plus 50% bonus target vs IBD associate 1 comp of $150k base plus 100-150% bonus.
Thank you
Advice for someone going into IR?
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Nice. Tx
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