Would it be smart to skip the i-banking 2 year stint for a reputable HF/PE firm?

My school feeds a couple of students into Blackstone's BAAM group and some other hedge funds. I know banking is practically 2 years of finance bootcamp and prepares most for more rigorous finance careers (i.e. HF/PE), so I'm wondering if it would be a wise choice to skip banking. Spoke to an alumni at an EB and said he's disappointed with the lack of finance he received in his banking gig (most of time is spent formatting and PowerPoint). He said if he could go back, he'd go straight for the HF/PE route (picked banking for the brand). Don't plan on doing banking for more than the analyst years. Undecided between HF or PE route. So, would it be practical to skip the banking gig?

2 Comments
 

Not to sound rude or anything, but this has been asked dozens of times with strong cases having been made for both sides. You should definitely try reading some of the older threads as they contain some good insight from others.

Personally, I would choose IB because their training programs have been proven and tested over decades, whereas most PE shops and HFs are relatively new to the undergrad hiring game. This thread really goes into this in detail.

 

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