Hey y'all, I am currently a post-MBA associate at a mid-tier BB (e.g. BofA, CS, BarCap, Citi) interested in recruiting for PE. I wanted to do banking out of undergrad but was late to the game for recruiting so I went the MBA route to breakin but PE has always been my end goal. Prior to business school, I worked at a PE FoF so some exposure to PE there albeit from the GP side and very qualitative.
Based on people's experiences, are there any HHs that have been more receptive and have had success working with post-MBA IB associates for the buyside? If so, would it be better to recruit earlier (after 1 year) to try and be a Sr. Assoc. at PE firm or wait until VP to try to go for a VP/Principal role?
Thanks in advance. Any insight is appreciated.
Curious as well
Also interested
Worth reaching out to all of the main ones (there's lists all over this site, but be sure to hit Henkel, CPI, Dynamics, Ratio, Bellcast, Oxbridge and Amity among others). It's never an easy story to tell so you want to maximize your shots on goal.
No idea on your second question but my gut is you want to try to make the move as early as possible, as you're much more trainable if you come in as an associate / senior associate. The caveat is you need to be very, very good to even have a shot so don't try to make the move before you're ready. Once you hit the VP stage you're both expected to lead deal execution without any handholding and very expensive to hire, which will make funds even more hesitant than they typically are. I suppose there's an exception if you're intimately familiar with running sellside auction processes but even then it's a risk for the fund because you're i) too experienced to do grunt work but ii) not senior enough to have a valuable network or deal experience.
I think this is spot on. PE is normally super rigid it’s really unfortunate. Sort of like analyst level banking too - it’s rough that recruiting too late pretty much shuts the doors to banking early on and then most PE opps. as someone who almost recruited too late I feel you, but seems like you’ve gotten yourself well on track
thanks for the insight. Would you say its the same for HF? Would being in a product group (e.g. M&A, LevFin) be any help in the process?
IMO product groups are counterproductive if you're looking to go to a hedge fund. Lev fin and M&A are great if you're trying to get reps so you understand the deal process cold. You don't need to know any of that to work at a HF so you'd be better served becoming an absolute expert in an industry you're interested in. Deal reps only matter insofar as you're getting deep knowledge on how the company works--the mechanics are irrelevant.
Hedge funds are generally a lot more flexible than PE firms in terms of background (outside of a couple Tiger Cub type places) so you have more room to differentiate yourself by just being really, really smart. If you're interested in HF recruiting, you'd be well served to have a couple stock pitches ready to go at all times (at least two longs and a short) that you're constantly updating and reexamining based on what's going on in the industry.
Thank you for the great insight! This is the type of content I go on WSO for
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