LDN Offer Choice
I am in a spot where I have to decide between a MM PE firm (most of you would not have heard of it, still 5bn+ in AUM) versus MBB vs lower tier BB (European one). If my end goal is MF/UMM PE, which one would make more sense? All offers are in London.
Bonus points for the path that yields the higher top MBA optionality (H/S/W).
Currently leaning for the MM buyside firm, given the direct relevancy of the work experience and the fact that such positions on the buyside directly are exceedingly rare out of school. Just not sure how those are viewed by HHs compared to traditional top BB/MBB gig or if I will be able to get on their radar.
I feel that going through consulting I would still get looks and be able to position myself, given my work experience and educational pedigree (heavy on finance/M&A).
Happy to hear your thoughts!
P.S. Non-diversity, fluent in other European languages.
Seems like MM PE is the shoo-in choice. What's making your decision difficult especially since the BB name is lower-tier like you mentioned?
I am more hesitating with the MBB gig actually, agreed that the BB offer is less competitive. Btw would the answer change if it were a top tier BB (GS/MS/JPM)? I feel that the distinction/prestige difference between the BBs is less stark in London than in the US for example when it comes to buyside recruiting.
If I had a choice to go to either M&A at Goldman Sachs or a less known but stable mid-market PE, I would always choose to be on the principal side as the investment skills that you get are simply unbeatable or unavailable even in the top team at the top bank. As soon as I you are in the private equity industry, you can be a lot less reliant on headhunters and network on your own by selling your PE experience directly to the firms that interest you. Good luck!
For sure, the only thing holding me back is that I have 0 confidence that MF/UMM PE HHs will value my background properly (will always prioritize the GS/BB analyst), but you are right that I should be able to network plenty on my own to make up for it
My personal view is that if you have private equity experience, you don't need headhunters as much. And that's a relief. Because the majority of headhunters want everyone to look the same out of the same cookie-cutter.
Search linkedin to see where past MM PE analysts have gone, whether the program has any success.
See how recently they raised their last fund, how much is undeployed. Not much help if they raised 5b 10 years ago and deployed 90% already.
Edit if it's Terra Firma don't pick them.
Personally I'd pick MBB for the optionality even if they might have less success going to PE Vs BB. I think McKinsey you can get rotation in their Corporate Finance department and Bain also has a PE group.
Not Terra Firma, AUM growth has been steady and fundraising consistent. I have searched extensively and there are very few datapoints (not a regular programme kind of thing), although the data is somewhat encouraging (some MF/UMM exits). I don't have anything to benchmark it against though.
Those are exactly my thoughts regarding consulting, hard to give up the optionality but I guess one has to make a choice at some point and stick to it.
Out of curiosity could you please PM me?
PM too would love to know who this is? For reference currently interning at UMM
Is it Epriris? It is the only fund that runs a FT Analyst program and fits the described criteria.
According to their website they „only“ have 1.4bn AUM
bump
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