It’s been my understanding that where you work for ER matters less than who you work for. So I don’t know that the brand name alone is going to be the best thing to consider. As far as MF PE, it’s gonna be a reach if you aren’t diversity from those shops, but those are still good shops for MMPE, as far as I know.

 

Thanks for the reply. I agree with what you said about ER, but that's difficult to fully determine in all honesty, so it's a bit of a gamble. Do you think I will get more looks from buy-side funds in general if I go the IB route?

 
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ER won't get you to a PE investing role so if PE is the only factor, then don't choose ER. Most MM banks won't lead to UMM and especially MF exits, but there's one exception I know of, maybe a few more - Chicago firms. The main Chicago UMM firms - GTCR, MDP - all take associates from Chicago MM banks. Lot's of people from Blair have joined these firms, whereas NY UMM firms wouldn't look at NY MM banks for associates in most cases. If you're not at a Chicago MM, then your only option for UMM/MF PE is to add an extra year and lateral. Lateral from your MM to an EB or top BB, and as a second year recruit for PE with a 2 year timeline. You'll be a banking analyst for 3 years instead of two, but your exits from the lateral will be much better. 

This is all assuming you have the GPA, test scores, interview skills/polish, prestige, etc that you need for UMM/MF PE

 

The IB gig would be at the Chicago office. Also, my background is semi-target, 3.95 GPA, non-diversity, meh interview skills, terrible standardized test scores. I'm assuming MM IB is an easier switch to BB IB than it would be from ER? If I changed the original question to buy-side firms in general is IB still ahead? Thanks for the help.

 

Ok so Chicago I'm assuming you'll be at Blair. Google GTCR and MDP. Both are top tier UMM firms. On both of their websites they'll list every associate and where they did their IB stint. You'll probably find a handful of people from Blair. 3.95 is a perfect GPA so you're good there. When looking at the associates at those firms, take note of how many nontargets, especially from Chicago MM firms there are, and that will be a good indicator. PE firms, especially MF and UMM firms can be a mixed bag on their views on nontarget backgrounds. Lastly, in terms of test scores, they're very important unfortunately. Most UMM/MF PE firms require you to get your MBA and so you'll need to take the GMAT at some point. Since you said that you're interning in IB, I'm assuming that'll be your junior internship and you still have you senior year left - use that to study for the GMAT and take it then too. You don't want to study for the GMAT when you're swamped with work in IB/PE and when you're in school you're used to studying and testing anyways. Instead of putting your SAT/ACT on your resume, put your GMAT. You'll need a pretty high score to get into H/S/W, especially non-diversity, so aim as high as you can. GMAT scores last 5 years anyways so it gives you plenty of time to use.

All of this may sound like overkill, but each thing that you do adds to your chances of getting in. Also keep in mind that Chicago MM IB works well for Chicago UMM/MM PE, but less so for firms outside of the Chicago area. I'd completely disregard ER at this point. The BB name may be stronger, but for your goals it won't help. It'll be significantly easier, by a huge margin, lateralling from MM IB to an EB than from BB ER to any IB. For buyside in general IB will take you further. ER lists asset management and hedge funds as exit ops, but I'm not sure if they're in primary investing roles. People will go 2 years top BB/EB to 2 years MF PE to top HF, so I doubt you'll just see 2 years ER to top HF in an investing role, it may be internal ER? But I'm less sure about non-PE buyside exits

 

Absolutely not true. If you’re coming from ER, assuming you’re good at what you do, have worked for a good analyst, and have a strong desire to hop to the buyside, you should be a very viable candidate for buyside opportunities at HF/LO. And both shops you listed for research have generated quite strong analysts to work under - would be different if you were looking at MM ER and BB IB... can’t really go wrong with MS/JPM for research unless you have a specific sector in mind where due to current team sizes, there’s just not the opportunity today. 

 

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