Would appreciate some additional insight:
Currently Senior 1 in Audit, VHCOL and would be Senior 2 promote in the fall.
Here are the current opportunities:
1: Offered SaT rotation with EY
2: Currently interviewing for Senior Financial Analyst position for Disney Streaming
3: Currently interviewing for Operations Finance role with Apple
4: Currently interviewing for Accounting/FP&A role with Google
Any insights into career projection, WLB, comp, benefits etc. would be super helpful!
Mentor
OP feel free to DM me, am a BA who was in your shoes one year ago and really struggled at my UMM (and the excessive weekend work) early on, but am doing better now. Have some tips to help you “cope” if you will. Also, yes, you will have a shot at top hedge funds, HHs will start to hit you up soon enough. I think hours on the whole are better, but the volatility on the job is too stressful for me (eg shops will fire you a few months in if you’re not performing) - that doesn’t exist even in PE
Mentor
Yeah please share! I’m in the exact same boat as OP and would love some perspective for those who figured it out
Mentor
Former consultant now UMM - I thought about quitting most weeks for first 6-8 months. Now I’m glad I didn’t. You’ll get up the learning curve and develop some skills. The lifestyle is trash but what did you think you were signing up for? HF is better hours but you have a gun to your head the whole time - seems awful.
I did some time at an L/S HF. Most stressful 50-hour weeks of my entire career. And honestly, the work didn’t excite me. Keep those two things in mind: it can be beyond stressful (depending on the fund) and there is a chance you don’t like the work (especially if you enjoy project/transaction style work).
Btw, I was one of the ones who did well (had good work product, had a few picks of my own that went to IC and ended up being home runs, etc). So performance had nothing to do with it. During my stint there I saw 4 separate people join our team and leave within a few months.
As someone mentioned above…youre no longer an advisor but an actual sponsor / principal. Decisions matter. That’s what makes the buy side tough.
Did you end up back at another PE shop M2?
Coach
I think stick it out in UMM. Unless you think you’re gna crush equities, I’d just stay in UMM. At least put in the work for 12-18 months and you can get some solid exits after. From my experience it gets better as you get more used to the daily repetitive tasks of PE.
Please read this with respect - You have to deliver, how you do that is your hours. I’ve seen low and hi hours compared to the consulting grind
In consulting you are more or less protected because you are professional services at the end of day vs PE it is you own shxt that you are stuck with and have to deal with. To answer your question, yes hedge fund (investing roles) in general is market hours, nobody is staying late to do extra research, modeling is going to be lighter, and decision making process is not like PE IC. I’m talking about L/S in general, but the most elite shops may be crazier.
Oh damn, I’m sorry OP. That does sound like a huge surprise compared to your previous employment. If you want to continue in this Finance route then I’m sure you’d have a shot at a big L/S. However, I’d be open for new things as well, your skills might be what a startup is waiting for to go from $100M to $1bn… but then it’s a personal choice. I’m sure you’ll do great though, no matter where you end up.
Tons of folks here but I’m also Bain back to back from UMM PE. I personally know 5-ish consultants in my class who did the same from top shops. I’m not advocating for it as I think the answer varies by person but if helpful to DM - just offering myself up
Will you consider credit hedge fund? Hours are decent, arguably the best (40-50).