Is it common to move from management consulting to Private Equity/Hedge Funds? What sort of profile and attributes are preferred / likely to succeed in such a move. Any experiences , would be great it you can share.

2 main hunting grounds would be IBD folks with a few years experience and Strat Consultants (MBBB) with a few years experience. Also MBA's from top schools.

A fair amount of knowledge about the financial markets,finanacial modelling, ETD & OTC derivatives probably wouldn'[t go amiss either! Chuck in 10-15 years trading experience for hedge funds too.

Another point is that often hedge funds look for people who have a very high degree of numeracy and this might include some maths at degree level though not necessarily a phd or anything.Personally i think PE would be more interesting but it depends how much of a quant you are

Are there any PE firms which have large post deal business units which focus on business transformation?

I made the move 6 months ago, to one of the big players, and i am starting to reconsider. Im caught in between thoughts... Anyone who is considering this move, really really think about the pull and push factors. thats my two cents.

Merlin - really interested to hear about your experience, can you elaborate? Were you at MBBB before? How long were you ther for and what level havre you entered PE at? Hows does salary/hours/work compare? Have you been working a lot of weekends? I'm sure there are a lot of others out there who would love some answers to these questions since PE seems to be being seen as an increasingly attractive option for MCs. What's it really like?

Right, Im happy to help, but ill keep it short - id rather answer specific questions. I moved after 2 years at the strat devision of one big players. I was in M&A strategy there. The life here is totally different. Firstly, there is a gerneral misconception that PE houses do commercial oerations, strategy etc etc and that this relates therefore to consulting. This is not accurate. You have to clearly separate the buyout teams and asset management teams from each PE house. These are different teams with different skill sets - the majority of the people come from IB and consulting, with respective majorities in each. The hours are abosultely incredible. In the 6 months I have been here I have had only had 10 days off ( including weekends) . I have worked through easter and bank holidays alike, and usually end my day around 11pm to 2 am, starting at 10.This is putting a strain on my health, and private life - and is the reason behind me reconsidering. On the other hand, the money is crazy. I went from 40k to over 200k. Salaries for principals and up include carried interest and thereofore lose significance - these people arent in it for the money if you know what i mean. ( partner salaries were in excess of 15m including profit share) The work on my side is very technical, all points to that two digit % . Thats all that counts.

Merlin (or other who can comment),how about -and sorry if im a bit naive- the people who will work in the bought business for the 3 to 5 years? What skills are required there? how are they fished? hows life on that side? Im thinking more of the operations guys you see...thanks

I have absolutely no idea why people think there is this great link between management consultancy and private equity. It really makes me laugh when I see these people ask questions like 'If I join accenture BSI can I move into private equity after a few years'.99.9% of consulting has absolutely nothing to do with private equity and 99.9% of management consultants could never make 'the switch' because a) they dont have the skills, and b) the nature of the work is just too different.Generally, the only people who can move to PE are those from MBBB. There is not some magic stepping ladder between the professions, it is simply because the people who do switch are both extremely bright and have probably had experience in M&A activity, which is common when doing proper consulting at MBBB.My advice would be that if you do want to work in PE and you can't get into a PE firm, go and work for an investment bank, and I mean proper banking activities like M&A, not any capital markets rubbish. Don't go in to MC thinking that you can switch in the future, the professions really have very little in common and you will be wasting your time.Then again, if some idiot tells you you need a phd in fluid thermodynamics to get into PE, dont listen to a word of it, it is simply not true. Yes, much of the valuation work it is very mathmatical, but that doesn't mean to say only maths graduates can get in.For the person who asked about post deal business units, unless your an MBBB partner then no chance. And anyway, PE firms don't work that way, they rely on networks of operating executives, who tend to have been CEO's of major global companies, to run post deal business transformation (when necessary).For those who were wondering, I was considering management consulting after university, but decided against it and was lucky enough to get a job as an analyst at a PE firm. It is damn tough work with very long hours, but its worth it for the challenge alone.In my opinion, if you really want to do PE, don't waste the start of your career consulting.

Dont assume that after an asset is purchased, the PE houses change everything internally etc. The degree of activisim varies: some funds actively participate in the target, some leave it alone, some just replace the board etc. I think what you are looking for is some kind of asset management - but again in that case, if they need to implement operational change, they would hire a consultant... which is what you do now! Just for curiousity, why do you want to work in PE?

hi merlin,well, I actually dont want to work for PE. I enjoy very much being a consultant and, as it was mentioned by someone else here recently, enjoy improving my client.I was just wondering how it would be to work for a PE, not in a pure finance/quantitative role, but as someone who works in the bought out firms, managing those firms. I guess they tend to hire a big new team to jump in the ship for those 3-5 years until they load off, right?