What do you do if you want to stay in PE after your 2-year associate program, but don't want to go to B-school?

So I feel like the most common path if you want to stay in PE is: 2-yr PE associate>B-school>PE Sr. associate/VP.

What if I don't want to get my MBA? Do I lateral to another firm and be an associate again for 2 more years? Then hope for promotion to senior levels? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like most funds will not hire sr. associates/VP's after only a 2-year associate program.

Thanks!

 

Your hunch is correct. Some will, but it's more the exception than the norm from what I've seen. What I've seen is either lateral to another associate role (in which case you're just kicking the can down the road) or, for firms where the first post-MBA role is VP, they'll make you a senior associate for 2-3 years before promoting you to VP. In the latter case, theoretically, a guy a year behind you could jump over you post-MBA if you took an extra year somewhere in the process.

 

Bump. Interested in hearing people's experiences. I am currently an Associate as a lower middle market PE shop. Current associate program ends in mid-summer 2017. Business school isn't an option. These are my thoughts in order of priority: 1) senior associate role 2) associate role with career track 3) corporate dev or strategy 4) associate role w another defined 2 year track.

 
Best Response

1 and 2 (and progressing in PE in general) are gonna be tough with no MBA. Potentially also 3 as well, but I'm not as sure - it'd probably be tough to go to a F100 and progress in a meaningful way w/o the MBA, but at smaller companies (including portcos, which isn't an uncommon exit for PE associates) it's probably a better bet. 4 is possible but you're really just delaying the inevitable because you're just going to be left with choices 1-3 in 2 years again.

If you're dead set on no MBA but staying on the buyside, you might look into HF's.

 

Depends man. Some firms have an up and out policy (most big funds do). Others will promote without B-School.

GGC has a great program -- they promote / pay for b-school of those they want to keep. Basically you have the option to go to b-school for free OR stay and progress up the ladder.

Just make sure to ask the fund that you are looking to sign with about their policy.

 
saints2009:

I'm an econ major at a USNWR top 5 school, and I've secured an ibanking internship for this summer at a MM investment bank in the south. Provided that I don't want to get into Bain Cap, KKR, Carlyle, BX, and the like, is it likely that I won't need to get an MBA? What about for smaller or middle market private equity firms?

you have 3 SB's and 53 Monkey shits. I'm not saying that means anything (and it probably doesn't), but for some reason, I'm impressed.

 

Agreed with above. Although I've never worked in PE I'm relatively familiar with the game. If you have a respectable resume, know your shit, and contribute to the team you probably have a shot. Pretty simple.

Also I think something you could do in liu of a MBA, is join a portfolio company you've worked with. You'll already know everything financial about the company and it's operations and getting experience with the rest of company I think would blow an MBA out of the water in terms of long term perspectives.

I'd think someone with an IB/PE background and then realized sucess on the corporate side would be and invaluable sr. associate / VP level PE investor.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 

Most post MBA jobs are under the "senior associate" role, not VP. Doing a lateral move to that position can happen, but it is rare.. Like Stringer Bell said, if you know your stuff and have a good resume, you'll have a shot. The problem is that there are very few senior associate positions open at any given time. In order for a position to open up at a PE fund, everyone in the graduating associate class has to be so bad that no one is promoted. Also, they have to choose not to go through MBA recruitment for the new hire (i.e. they need someone now so badly that they can't wait for MBA recruitment to begin).

 

thanks for the responses

New Yorker:
who's going to give you money for an lbo or a hedge fund?

i think i could invest enough equity and get enough financing for a small lbo...along with maybe others

just to clarify, i was discussing moving to a hedge fund, not starting my own

 

I am in my first year of PE and do not plan on going to business school. Not ever in my life.

That said, if I wanted to continue in PE for a long-term career, I'd probably go. But, I'm not looking at this as a long-term thing for me.

After PE, if you don't go to b-school or move to another PE firm / hedge fund, you can absolutely enter industry / start up a business. No reason to go to school and spend $150 grand when you can be earning more and doing things you're interested in.

 

^^^Of course if you end up doing shitty after a direct-promote, you can always go and get your business degree

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 
branson562:
So would getting an mba be beneficial even though you are a business major and you want to continue at a pe firm?

I would imagine that an MBA is always beneficial. Whether it's a necessity depends on the firm you want to work at/are working at.

 

I recently started at a boutique PE firm (not in NYC) and originally planned on being here 2 years and then heading off to a good Bschool.

Now, I am not so sure anymore. Of course this is still a very real possibility but I think I will be more likely to look for other FT opportunities (at larger funds) then I initially thought. I think it will be hard to pass up the money and experience to go back to school for virtually no reason (other than networking). I recently have started viewing bschool as a "trump card" that I want to hang on too until I have to use it.

My situation is a little different from most because I came into PE out of undergrad (so no IB experience) and my fund has a "specialty" so it doesn't require full blown LBO models like your average fund. So, while I am sure I would be a great bschool candidate going in, it has sort of hit me that I might not be "that" competitive for the FT recruiting process on the back end.

Hopefully I can leverage this position/experience into a larger, better paying position that will give me greater exposure and increase my network and simultaneously increase the quality of my bschool application.

With all that said, I will say that I think an MBA can actually be a very important factor in PE...especially if you don't come from the traditional background. I have a smaller network than most BB analysts, so I realize that an MBA would be a great way to close that gap and provide me contacts across many industries that will give me access to information and potential deals, which is a HUGE part of senior level PE.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

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