Boutique PE Fund of Funds vs. Institutional Investment Consulting*

Hi WSO,

You guys have been great in the past with questions, so I'm hoping for a little advice. I've been working at a top 3 investment consulting firm (mid/front office role), and passed the first 2 levels of my CFA. I've been offered a position to move over to the direct consulting side (and possibly AM side for outsourcing institutions down the road). I'm also interviewing with a $10B PE FoF/hybrid (they do FoF, secondaries, and co-direct investments) investing in the buyout/VC and small allocation to distressed - I'd be a general analyst working across all investments.

I'm planning on going back to B-school regardless in 2-4yrs (undergrad was very non-target). Which do you think would be the better route long-term to get into a direct fund role? I had been hoping to move to either a HF/PE fund down the road, or even a mutual fund if possible, but haven't had much luck (even getting in the door for ER interviews).

3 Comments
 

This is an easy one (assuming equally stable firms, etc.), take the PE FOF/hybrid role - you should not take a consulting position if you want to do investments. It will be difficult to ever get to a direct role regardless, but at least if you go work at the hybrid you could get exposure to secondaries and co-investments, build some relevant skills and relationships and at least be able to stay on the investment side. Some of the secondaries/co-invest shops also pay well in relation to the work/life balance, at least once you get past the Analyst level.

 

Est quos et et laudantium officia repellat odio. Vel repellat rerum iste deserunt ducimus optio a ipsa.

Saepe minus inventore quod quam dolorem. Quia odio eaque omnis vitae ex magni. Ipsum sit ipsam quia vero saepe qui.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”