How to transition from EU MBB to US PE
Hi all,
recently started in a European MBB office, and trying to lay out my future years. My dream destination in a couple of years would be in a MF PE in US, and I am trying to figure out the best way to get there.
About me:
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Started MBB off cycle a couple of months ago
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Quite old, 26 yo
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Math finance master
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Coming from unknown uni, but my specific program is a target for local MBB, IB and PE-offices
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740 GMAT on first take, GPA translated to ~3.7/4.0
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Considering an MBA
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No prior PE experience
From my POV I have 3 different options:
- Do 1.5+ years in MBB, transfer to local PE shop, stay for 2 years (?), get into solid MBA program, get post-MBA PE role in US
Pros: From my understanding I NEED to have PE experience to get into PE post-MBA in US?
Cons: Would need to pay for the MBA on my own, which is quite a lot of money in my home country (if I fail to land a solid role and needs to move back). Would be 31 by the time I am starting the MBA, and 33 when I am done.
- Do 2+ years in MBB, get into solid MBA program, try to get into PE otherwise go back to MBB
Pros: No risk, MBA would be sponsored if I fail to get PE. Would "only" be 29 when I am starting my MBA.
Cons: Basically impossible to go MBB->MBA->PE?
- Do internal transfer to US office from EU (either MBB or in PE firm)
Pros: Could skip MBA and get relevant experience instead, and would put less emphasize on my age
Cons: Would miss out on the MBA experience
Any option doable? I understand that all options are long shots, but what would be your recommendations?
Would it be possible to go MBB->MBA->MBB (to get the MBA sponsored) and then make the transition to as a MBB manager/project leader to a US PE office? I.e. would my US MBA make me more attractive, even though I am not a recent graduate?
banana_banker, shame nobody has responded. Maybe one of these topics will help:
Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.
Really hope that 26 is not classified as "old."
Well, considering that the avg age for new starters at MBB in US is probably 22 and that avg age for MBA is 27-28 I think 26 is quite old. Hopeful that they will cut me some slack since I'm European.
EU undergrad studying in the US at a target. At the undergrad level, the good PE firms don’t sponsor for the most part. I don’t know if this is also true at the MBA level, but I’d recommend you look into this first. Also, you might want to wait until a more international-friendly administration comes to power. Right now, sponsorship is tough to get for internationals, be it at the undergrad or the MBA level.
Following up on the question above, do you require a work visa to work in the U.S. (it isn't clear from your post)? This is a pretty critical question because it severely limits the number of PE shops that will consider your profile. Happy to answer the originally posed question once you share this info as my answer will depend.
Yes, would need a work visa. Although, from what I've read on the forum before that's not considered a huge problem if one would get his MBA from a ok school, but I might be wrong?
One of the reasons it is particularly important is because the smaller PE firms don't offer sponsorship, which eliminates a huge segment of the PE market for you. I know that you aren't necessarily interested in MM PE, but it is generally a very good alternative to MF PE. Additionally, most of the large PE firms recruit back their pre-MBA associates upon completion of their MBA, making it very difficult to break into that segment of the industry immediately post MBA. Even if you were to obtain your MBA at HBS, which is quite possible if you're doing MBB and have a 740 GMAT and 3.7 GPA... you'd still likely be facing an uphill battle.
Because of this, I think the best advice is to try to lateral your way over to the U.S. after first starting at a large fund in Europe (your option #3). There are a lot of them, and the other poster in this thread gives good advice. Try to get in at EQT, CVC, Cinven, etc. and then go from there. If you can get a job at one of those directly in the U.S., even better ... but I suspect the easier path will be to start in Europe and transfer over once you've established yourself a couple years in.
Finally, for what it is worth, (a) you're definitely not old and (b) based on my MBA class alone, international students tended to be older on average than the american students.
I'd target Euro - HQed PE shops in the US. So like EQT, CVC, Permira, Cinven, etc.
Agreed on Visa as well, that will be very important.
So MBB -> Euro PE shop and then try to get a permanent transfer to the US? (i.e skip MBA)
Wouldn't be a permanent transfer, it would be on the L-1 visa. Once you're there though, you can maybe bring up potentially starting the Green Card process but this is all pretty hypothetical right now.
Just curious, why is MF PE the dream destination?
At the Associate level, I understand the MF PE obsession, the branding, experience, and contacts go a very long way. In a career track role, the math is very different and there’s a big range of considerations that come into play.
Some of the considerations that are way more important in a post-MBA career track seat vs. Associate program would be: AUM and how the economics scale, org structure and headroom for growth/promotion, long-term fund performance, investment style and how it fits into broader firm DNA, culture/politics. None of these things are no brainers at MF vs MM.
The largest MFs are also public and therefore split half their economics with shareholders and are aggressively growing their biz away from PE and away from carry-driven earnings.
Might re-evaluate that later, would probably be as satisfied with MM, just wanted to highlight in what direction I was aiming for.
Hi mate,
pretty much in the same dilemma. Started a year ago at European MBB, "quite old" 26 yo, admitted to HBS 2+2 (will matriculate sometime between Summer 21 and 23).
I have reached out to the major HH firms in the US, waiting for an answer, will let you know if Visa is an issue, but my strong assumption is that it will be.
My plan A is to get a job at US MF in London pre-MBA and leverage that experience to get sponsorship/ return offer at US office.
Feel free to reach out
Hi, as someone in a similar spot about to start at MBB in London, do you have any updates on this?
Bump, I am in a similar situation, would love to know additional opinions and the like
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