Making the transition from Investment Banking to Corporate Development/Strategy
So moving from banking to PE/HF has been well documented. I know the PE networking process, while tough, is made easier for bankers due to the presence of headhunters, and many consulting firms have internal job boards for corporate development positions....
Can anyone talk a little about moving into a development/strategy role for a corporation after the 2 year analyst program?
- Specifically how to land interviews and network for these jobs despite working 100hr weeks?
- Are you pretty much stuck to trying to get in with clients that you covered in your industry group or are there smart ways to approach companies outside of that bubble?
Any advice or stories touching on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
i would love to hear more about this.
http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/bios/thomas_staggs.html
Somewhat related - CFO of Disney used to do IB at Morgan Stanley, looks like he had an MBA though.
Are you set on not getting a MBA? It seems that would be the easiest way.
I'd really rather not get an MBA and have my reasons.
But regardless, when I was an SA this summer, It seemed like 10-15% of 2nd year analysts left for these type of positions so I know it is very possible to do without getting an MBA.
Sidenote, I feel like Disney has a pretty legit/structured corp. development program. I've seen quite a few associate profiles on PE firm websites of people who came straight from Disney's Corp Dev program with no previous finance experience.
Most Fortune 500 companies have corporate strategy & development groups that exclusively hire former i-bankers and consultants at the pre and post-MBA levels. Hiring happens through company websites and/or headhunters.
I did 2 years of M/B/B then joined a group at Fortune 50.
feel free to pm your industry and any other questions you may have
raider4ever,
how do you like your new job? regards to pay/hours/life style/ culture/ potential to move up
Perspective based on being in the role for ~1 year.
Pay is better than consulting, but with a much lower trajectory over time.
Lifestyle is feast or famine: seems like we're either working 80 hour weeks or 40, with little insight into what any particular day/week/month will be like depending on project pipeline.
Culture is dependent on the composition of the particular group and management to which you report. Mine is all former M/B/B and BB i-bankers and we report to a demanding CFO. Folks want to have a life outside of work and strive to honor that, particularly those with kids. Working style is consulting-like, but without a lot of the extracurricular stuff (dinners, team events, etc).
Group is designed as a way to attract and incubate talent into the company. After ~1.5-3 years it's expected you either roll out into more of a "line" role (marketing, finance, etc) which will be essentially at the post-MBA level or move on to b-school.
raider4ever,
I can understand why they want ex consultants, but why bankers? Do they make ex-bankers do modeling work or do you all do the same work? Maybe they want ex bankers so they can be future finance managers.
BTW, thank you for your feedback -- this is one area that I know very little about
They want ex-bankers because corp dev is in-house M&A, so people with M&A experience (i.e. bankers) will bring a lot of useful skills and knowledge to the table.
BB IBD to Corporate Development/Finance at the Associate/VP level (Originally Posted: 05/14/2011)
Is there generally a high demand for finance professionals at this level from F500 companies? If someone who's in banking doesn't make it to the MD level, would it be a relatively easy transition and a feasible fall-back plan to go into corporate finance/development?
It seems that transitioning from the analyst level to corporate development (at the associate or manager level) seems relatively painless, but I'm more curious about at the higher levels (ie: Vice President level).
The benefit of F500 companies is that they often post these types of jobs online. I'd suggest you pull up the corporate development job listings at Fortune 500 companies that interest you and take a look at the "Manager" or higher level postings. The required experience is usually listed.
Also -- if you can find the LinkedIn profiles of folks who hold the job you want, you can usually see their career progression. I've encountered a few mid-tier corp dev folks in my time that came from post-MBA banking backgrounds.
This might also be a good thread to check out:
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/the-other-road-corporate-developm…
Thanks so much CompBanker. As helpful as always.
IB Analyst to Corporate Development (Originally Posted: 01/16/2011)
I'll be wrapping up my 2nd year as an IB analyst in September. I have the option to stay on for a third year and potentially a promotion to associate but recently networked into the possibility for a corporate development role.
My investment bank is boutique and is a no name firm outside of our specific vertical. The corporate development role is with a subsidiary of a fortune 500 with revenues just over 2 billion (the parent company is $5B).
What path is better for getting into the best mba program, assuming I'll pursue an MBA regardless of a promotion to the associate level?
I'll cast my vote for the corporate dev position.
corporate dev.
I'll go with corp dev too. You could probably use the break and it seem that you would benefit from the name/experience should you decide to go to bschool. Good luck.
Regards
Thanks for all your responses. If I move to corp dev, am I burning future opportunities (post-MBA) to work in IB? Is corp dev to PE a rare circumstance?
I hope PE/VC firms start valuing strong industry exp corp. dev exp. I might be starting at a f500 (biotech) and hoping to do VC/PE biotech/pharama down the road.
VC firms definitely value corp dev, though likely limited to that specific industry. Not sure about PE. I think people should stop worrying about particular paths and just excel at what they do. Think about it - if you amass a large amount of industry expertise and have access to a strong network, why wouldn't PE or VC firms consider you a value add?
Banking to Corporate Dev/Strategy Question (Originally Posted: 01/17/2008)
I'm in the middle of 3rd year as an analyst at a regional boutique and will probably get promoted to associate. I was thinking about trying to get a job in the corporate world as a strategy analyst for a fortune 500 company in its international division. It's one of those jobs that requires pervious banking/consulting experience.
Question: what do jobs like this pay? bonus if any? typical hours? and how would this switch be perceived by grad schools, positive? negative? indifferent?
Business schools will view the move in a positive light. Having the unique work experience (i.e., IB and industry) is a differentiator to which bschools attribute value.
I think there is a wide band as to what comp would look like. A very rough estimate - based on a small sample size - would lead me to believe you'd be looking at ~$100k.
anyone else?
Agreed with smuguy97. Comp varies so much from region to region so its hard to say.
MM IB (Associate) to Corporate Development (Originally Posted: 09/28/2010)
I will be joining as a first year associate at a middle market oriented investment bank and although I would like to make IB my career, I'm hoping to learn more about potential exit opportunities if things don't pan out.
In particular, I have no interest in joining a top PE shop, but am more curious as to how I'd fare if I tried to exit into corporate development. Is the fact that I'm not at a BB a big hindrance, or does brand really only matter for top PE exits.
Also, is MM PE a viable exit option?
Both Corp Dev and MM PE are viable exit ops.
Corporate development is definitely an alternative, however in most cases these positions are filled from internal candidates who already have a good understanding of the business. So openings are few and far between. I happen to be an exception, now working in corp development at a Fortune 500 after previously being at an IB.
i am an analyst at a MM bank, and if corporate development is pretty hard to get into and so it PE, where the hell do us ibanking analysts go who do not want to stay in banking their entire life
I'm a big believer in growth. Life is not about achievement, it's about learning and growth, and developing qualities like compassion, patience, perseverance, love, and joy, and so forth. And so if that is the case, then I think our goals should include something which stretches us. Jack Canfield - Learning - Goals - Belief - Growth - Achievement - Compassion - Persistence - Patience - Love
sweet man, great quote ... ???
What does that quote have to do with anything?
Amazing quote
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