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:

  • Started MBB off cycle a couple of months ago

  • Quite old, 26 yo

  • Math finance master

  • Coming from unknown uni, but my specific program is a target for local MBB, IB and PE-offices

  • 740 GMAT on first take, GPA translated to ~3.7/4.0

  • Considering an MBA

  • No prior PE experience

From my POV I have 3 different options:

  1. 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.

  1. 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?

  1. 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?

 
 

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.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 
Most Helpful
banana_banker:
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?
Unfortunately this is an important consideration. Many of my international friends from business school faced visa challenges when recruiting outside of consulting / banking / multinationals. In fact, there were a handful if situations in which students were forced to leave the country when they didn't receive a work visa. Often times these students were relocated to London or their country of origin.

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.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

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.

 

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

 

Bump, I am in a similar situation, would love to know additional opinions and the like

 

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