Lateral move from MM to MF (London)
The title pretty much says it all. Currently at a MM firm looking to transition to an MF. Did a bit of everything (buyouts, growth, even distressed). Background is a little atypical: never did banking, did my MBA at an M7 and worked for a LMM firm pre-b-school.
Now I'm trying to figure out what chance, if any, I'd have at a lateral move to an MF. Particularly interested in the likes of Apollo (yes, I know, but my self-destructive tendencies aren't the ones debated here), Silver Lake, Permira, etc. I'm wondering how lateral processes work, if they're also HH dependent (and if so, how much), and how do interviews differ from typical recruiting and anything else that might be helpful.
Thanks!
Look at think at your level you need to figure out what type of investing is interesting to you, you need to find your niche that will help you going forward as opposed to do a bit of everything but not being great at one thing. So Apollo is great for Value / Distressed PE - often more industrials, Silver Lake is TMT focused as you know, and Permira primarily does deals with assets that have organic growth well over 5%.
Then when you know which one of these you want to do, well go to HHs saying I am looking at X types of funds for Y vertical, not in a rush to move but I would like to do larger deals for Z reason, aware that my background is unique but this is also my value add because of ABC.
Speak to a wide range of HHs, some will be more receptive to others than your background (it's the case for every background to be honest).
Excellent framing, thanks (sb-ed). In retrospect, should have been more specific in my post - my interest would lie with distressed/ value PE, so Apollo/Cerberus/Centerbridge/SVP come to mind, but I did enjoy working with tech assets so thought I’d throw in SL and Permira.
That said, how much of a disadvantage would you think my lack of banking xp is? A bit afraid of HHs telling me “no BB/EB, no views for you”, ngl. Or is it something you think I should just run with, see what happens?
I know SVP is super elitist and if you don't have a blue chip background these days they will not really speak to you - other thread here said that it's hinton doing the process, they are not very nice to you if you have not an RX background because that is their area of focus (https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/mm-pe-to-distressed-credit-hf-hy…). Apollo / Centerbridge are done by KEA (at least at the junior level) and again KEA are super elist - you either are in their targeted banks / funds or not, as simple as that. Not sure about Cerberus to be honest, I think performance has not been great lately (same for centerbridge).
I’ll say it every chance I can: Walker Hamill was an absolute treat to work with. Could not give higher marks. Like working with CPI in the states.
Yep, noticed they're pretty professional. That said, similar to Kea - no mint condition profile, no discussion. Plus they have this idea of core background - they wanna put you into a bucket when they first meet you: strategy consultant, banker and misc. If you're misc (which can include laterals) odds of them chatting with you are much lower relatively. Also prone to ghosting, but then again, who in London isn't... I found that US HHs do much less of this though
Funny I’ve had the opposite experience. Generally found more ghosting in New York (only by a slight margin). But really depends on a firm by firm basis. Some HHs are great some are shit when it comes to communication.
I’m just going to be real with you and tell you it’s likely this move won’t happen. It’s extremely difficult to go “upstream” in PE in general. Maybe London is easier than NYC idk, but I would doubt it. Put in the effort for sure reaching out to all the HHs and networking as well (I’ve heard funds in london are more receptive to cold LinkedIn inbounds than in the US), but be prepared that this likely doesn’t come to fruition. Try to pitch yourself as potentially having a unique skillset that a MF may need somehow, that’s your best shot I think.
Otherwise just keep doing good work at your shop and there may be opportunities down the road to join a MF at the mid-senior level in some form or fashion.
OP here… yep, that’s my gut feeling, almost word for word. That said, gotta try if the itch is there right? Appreciate the candor, thanks!
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