Do any of you guys get tired of the repetitive nature of investing?
I'm a second year Associate at a UMM PE firm. Before this I spent two years at MBB doing mostly PE due diligence work so for the past ~2-3 years diligence is basically all I've done. I'm performing pretty well at my shop and like to think I'm pretty decent at diligence for my tenure, but I've recently found myself getting tired of the rinse and repeat nature of investing. Even though industries vary the process is always the same: Understand how the business makes money, understand what drives customer purchasing behavior, understand how the target compares to competitors on that key criteria, take a view on growth potential, etc. Two years ago answering these questions was super interesting, now it's just kind of boring and repetitive. I'm looking ahead at my VPs/Principals/MDs and I know the job changes a bit as you advance and focus more on portfolio company value creation, but fundamentally the job of an investor is doing good diligence so I'm starting to reconsider whether I want to make a career out of investing if I'm already getting bored of it. Anyone else feel this way or have experience they'd care to share?
I was starting to feel a similar way in my growth equity seat. Yes, growth equity sees & supports cool up-and-coming companies but the constant churning of deals can make the work stale and grindy pretty quick. Talking with operators also gave me an itch to get my hands dirty with a startup too so I made a jump into an operations role.
In terms of work quality, I find my role at the startup way more engaging and diverse. The characters I deal with are way more interesting and I love the industry I'm in BUT I notice I really miss a few key things in investing:
In short, I don't regret the move but I miss the cash and ability to just passively "process" information without the severe consequences
I have found a few other areas that have been interesting new challenges:
This is either a sign of you peaking OR that you are “getting it” and should hone in on your intuition/pattern recognition. This is the “feel” great investors have.
You described one way of investing - buy good businesses for 'fair prices'. There are other strategies out there that are more than the receive CIM, data-room analysis, IC memos, submit bid cycle. Perhaps you can explore some of those as there are funds that are more 'dynamic' than others.
I actually feel the opposite. I think PE is one of the most dynamic jobs out there that also offers significant financial upside. Nearly every single one of my friends who isnt in M&A has a super repetitive job. They do nearly identical projects over and over (accountants, tax prep) and it truly is a grind. In PE, you rarely stop learning about industries, have the opportunity to travel and see different places, interact with a wide variety of new people constantly (as opposed to working with the same people over and over for a decade). I would argue that it is one of the most dynamic white-collar jobs you can do.
I think what OP is arguing is that his PE role has an element of repetitiveness, and is process driven, and it is very much doing the same thing over and over - for a different company. Agree - there’s value in the incremental knowledge / learning for each new company, but the process to get there honestly isn’t that difficult. Just takes manual labor to synthesize and analyze the data.
Jordan in 1993 sat down w/ Phil Jackson and could not find any compelling challenges to play next season, after winning a 3-peat. In his press conference he said “when I lose the motivation and the sense of to prove something as a basketball player, it’s time for me to walk away from the game of basketball”.
Altho in 1995-96 season Jordan narrating subsequently says “Love is realizing when NOT to quit your day job”.
Source: Air Jordan XVIII - What is Love? Full Commercial played during 2003 All-Star Game in Jordan’s last season w/ the Wizards. Hyperlink: (
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I think it really depends on your exposure/group. There are some aspects of investing (eg. DD, Spreading, Bidding Process) that really gets old quick after 3-4 cycles, but in some aspects (eg. structuring, creating value/synergy, and building up relationship with management) keeps me engaged and somewhat interested in this industry.
Overall i do enjoy my time in buy-side roles (although sometimes i do miss the thrill/pace of sell-side roles) because it requires me to think more as a businessman rather an advisor. Plus the pay and especially the network you develop during your tenure is probably second to none.
Wait until you start getting carry checks from those investments, that should make things interesting again
The smaller the fund you work at the less repetitive and systemized things will be. You could look for a role at an operationally intense MM or LMM firm?
I get what you're saying - after you can execute the process in your sleep, what remains the challenge? Other than time constraints and ability to concentrate on that given day. Your value becomes somewhat commoditized, and there lacks the creativity/innovative thinking that gets your juices flowing, that validates the incremental value of the work to you personally in terms of experience.
I would suggest starting to consider the entrepreneurial route and where you can add value to a wider audience to solve a problem/create a solution.
Well given you're at a UMM and I was at a MF, hopefully you can see my point on this subject. My issue certainly encompassed the repetitiveness of the industry but more so it was that the investment decisions were often predetermined on the whims of the MD or Partner. Like there were so many times a deal was bought to me to model/memo out to IC and I was told to make it work at a certain multiple/structure/rationale due to someone just wanting to get the deal done for reasons outside of it being a sound investment.
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