Valuation Career Promotion Structure?

Can anyone provide insight as to what the promotion structure is for a valuation analyst who stays at a valuation shop and approximately how long it takes to reach each position? So far I've gathered that it goes Analyst->Associate->Sr. Associate->?

Thanks guys!

 

depends on the shop, but assuming "associate" is the entry level position, it will take 2-3 years to be promoted to "Senior." Manager's promotion can happen anywhere between 4-6 years of experience, depending on how bad your firm wants to keep you and how well you perform. There after, it is a more sales oriented track. Senior Managers can either be on MD track, or just someone who is ok with managing someone else's clients. Same goes with "Director."

Some valuation shops pretend to be investment banks (typically those who have an IB arm) and have similar titles ie. analyst -> Associate -> VP etc.

does that make sense?

 
Best Response

Some of the titles depend on the company you're at, for example, smaller and mid-size shops more frequently use the title analyst, whereas, at a public accounting firm with a valuation practice, analyst is equivalent to associate. But this is the typical structure I've seen depending on the company:

Analyst/Associate--->Associate (if that's not the first level) --->Senior Associate--->Supervisor/Manager--->Director/Sr. Manager--->Partner/Principal/Vice-President

At Analyst and Associate levels, a two-year cycle is common. Senior Associate can be sticky depending on who's above you, how you're viewed, etc. However, I would say that two years is more common than not. Once you hit Manager it becomes a lot less of a 'cycle'. Does your company value sales? Are you more valued as a technical lead? How good can you suck up? Depending on how you fit into the team and the company, getting to Director can be a long process or another two years.

I've seen guys sit at Manager for 5+ years and I've seen people get there in 2 years. Director is the position you'll either stay at for the remainder of your career or become the partner/principal/VP if you're on that track. Although when that happens is no guarantee. They'll tell you that you can make partner/principal/VP in ten years. It's possible, but not common. If you're even on partner/principal/VP track, I'd say 12 years is closer to the actual amount of time you'd have to spend at a firm to get partner/principal/VP.

To clarify: It might look like if you start at a shop that has analyst as the starting role, you're going to put in an extra two years in. Not true, a lot of public accounting firms have supervisor or some other manager titles before Director, whereas the smaller or mid-level shops don't have this (that I've seen). So you'll (most likely) put in the same amount of time anywhere before you get to the Director level.

 

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