Accenture Strategy vs. EY (Not EYP) exit opps for PE

Hi,

Sharing my perspective having worked in BCG's PE practice. 

I guess the first 2 important contextual questions for you are

1. Which role you are looking at (investment vs value creation)
2. Which region are you in

On #1: Generally, it is harder for consultants to break into investment side (most of the associates will come from IB background). Value creation / ops is often an ‘easier’ route for consultants as we have directly relevant skills there. As a rule of thumb, I've only seen Mega/large funds hire investment side from MBB. I have seen some MM funds hire from Big 4 but from transaction advisory background. 

I would suggest pick the role that gives you either 

• More exposure to diligence (whether financial or commercial)
• More exposure to implementation / transformation / PMO

On #2, region matters as well. In smaller regions (such as SEA), the size of the industry is even smaller and therefore becomes even more selective. Therefore, branding matters and you should pick the firm with a better branding in your specific region. 

So the above is half my answer to your question. The other half of my perspective is that if you really want to join PE, then take a longer term view - you could also consider going to a place that is at least a more known feeder into their hiring. Speaking from experience in say Asia, the difference between ACN and EY is not going to matter, as the firms here are really selective and only look at MBB. So going to either MBB, or a top MBA (if that is still an option for you) is an another option. 

Hi there,

Congratulations on the offers! In terms of your question:

Q:  If I am looking to break in to PE firms within 5 years, are these two good career options to have? If so, which one is a better option? 

You can double-check the historical best option in terms of exits as follows:

1. Look for alumni of the two companies on LinkedIn.
2. Check how many moved to your preferred exits in your target region.
3. Normalize for the size of the companies in the region.

This hopefully will give you a data-driven answer.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

Agree with Francesco here. The best way to get insights is to look at the actual data which is quite easy with a quick LinkedIn search and the right filters.

Alternatively, you could also think about intermediate steps, e.g., 2 years at Accenture, then moving to an MBB's PE practice, then going for a fund.

All the best on the journey!

Cheers,

Florian

In what type of role do you want to join PE?

ACN may lead you to an investment or portfolio oversight role.

EY transformation may take to a value creation role. This will be a role within a portfolio company. Sure, the company owner will be a PE company, but it won't feel any different from a transformation role in any other company (ok, maybe more pressure from the PE over the portfolio company management). 

When people think about PE they usually consider the first option, not the second, so I suggest Accenture Strategy here.

Both are great avenues, but I'd probably lean towards the first since strategy work is closer to what a PE would do rather than business transformation work. 

Still, it's only a high level assessment and it's virtually impossible to tell ahead of time where each of these roads is going to lead. 

Take into account also the vibe that you got in the recruitment process.

All the best,
Cristian