Should I lateral ASAP?
I joined a impact fund (think DFI, Europe based) straight out of MBA. I really wanted this job and am very motivated. However, a year and a half into it, I'm feeling very underwhelmed -
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Deal closure takes a loooong time. We invest in Africa and till now I've not closed a single deal. I feel this is impacting my skill set and employability elsewhere
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I'm a bit bored because it's so slow. Maybe I can do more here on the sourcing side but not sure
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The organization is very very hierarchal and getting promoted is a fight even at associate level. I'm very pissed about this though my manager is a wonderful guy and did his best. I just didnt expect to face this issue so soon in my career.
Pos are really nice people, they don't destroy companies they invest in and the work is actually meaningful. Amazing work life balance too, though at the cost of salary (not a huge priority for me).
I also feel my exit options are very narrow because of niche market experience. All the roles I try for ask for developed markets experience and am not even getting a chance to interview. I have gathered some experience in healthcare - can I use this to my advantage?
What do you fellow monkeys think? What's the best way out?
Bump
Bump
Not to be a jerk, but it sounds like you should have done a little more due diligence on impact investing before you decided to pursue it. Impact investing is a niche by the nature of the investments you make. Deal closure is also probably tough in developing countries where general business professionalization likely isn't as high. There also aren't many seats in impact investing in general, so I wouldn't be surprised if you aren't rapidly advancing. If you're not happy, you should look for other jobs, but going to generic PE is probably going to be pretty tough. You used up your MBA pivot on impact investing, so now you're going to have to be more creative with how you find your next role. If you're not happy, you should obviously leave, but it sounds like your complaints are really more with impact investing as a whole (niche space, hierarchy, slow deal cycles) rather than things like people/comp, which is usually what pushes folks on the buyside to lateral. Best way out is to tap your network and likely go back to some sort of corporate role if you want to stay broadly within the impact space.
Hey man, thanks for posting. I know I fucked up on some points but most of this stuff really was covid and bad leadership. The fund has faced budget cuts (since developed nations are busy funding their own systems) and there have been leadership changes. I studied the career track of current people in my team and the progress looked good but right after I came in, they made promotions really hard. Inability to travel means pipeline has dried up so lack of deal closure is even more stark compared to traditional finance which is booming. I did underestimate deal closure timing and did not realize how used to being really busy I was, that's on me.
Question is where do I go from here - is sector focus something I can use? Growth capital? Any inputs would be useful.
The work that I do is the same as any other growth equity associate except it's slower and more complex on weird angles.
Gotcha, that's fair then, sorry to hear it hasn't worked out. Sounds like there were some unforeseen circumstances. I think my advice above still stands, if you want to stay in impact investing, you probably know the universe of impact shops out there. You can work your connections at any of those funds and hope they've had some turnover, otherwise, it'll probably take a while to find another traditional impact investing role. For general GE/PE recruiting, I'd think you'd have to decide if you'll be happy with the lifestyle and the ideology behind that type of investing, at the end of the day, it's to make money, and it sounds like you were trending away from that. Impact investors are kind of split between folks who really want to have an impact and those who don't really care. Depending on where you fall on that spectrum will determine whether you're happy with a traditional buyside role. Lastly, I'd imagine there are some F500 Impact/Strategy roles floating around that might be a fit or an interim step. You're not investing in the space, but you'd be close to impact if that's important to you.
Overall, I don't have any particularly insightful advice, you have an MBA, leverage that network, create a target list of companies and roles and start reaching out about them. If you have any specific sector expertise or interest within growth, find firms that match that and reach out to those. Lastly, be patient if you can be, your'e looking at pretty niche roles, it might take a while to find something good, best of luck with it.
I think you can make your way back — I’ve done this myself and have seen others make crazier pivots. Can’t rely on any HHs though. It’ll be based on your personal network. Feel free to DM
Would be keen to exchange notes with you. I work in PE (Asia) and the typical timeline to closed deals is 1-2 years. Thinking about exiting PE and joining a DFI at this stage.
Interesting that you have such a long lead time. Mind my asking if this is general corporate PE i.e. not infra/real assets? Also, is there a specific part of Asia that is a focus for your fund?
Grad degree + emerging markets experience might be a good fit for a multilateral development bank like the World Bank or IMF, just a thought.
I would move to Africa so you can take more a hands on approach to investing and show your boss you really care!
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