by meridith dennes | Sep 27, 2026 | Buy Side, Exit Opportunities, Lateral Recruiting
For most of the past decade, leaving banking was treated less as a decision than as a milestone. Most bankers exited after two years for private equity, growth equity, private credit, hedge funds, corporate development or other roles on the buy side. The appeal was... 
by meridith dennes | Feb 25, 2026 | Exit Opportunities, Interviewing, Lateral Recruiting
The narrative is seductive: escape the brutal banking hours, maintain strong compensation, gain strategic influence, and build a sustainable career. Corporate development has emerged as the hot exit for post-MBA investment banking associates and VPs, positioned as... 
by meridith dennes | Feb 22, 2026 | Buy Side, Exit Opportunities, Lateral Recruiting
Private equity owns a record 13,000 U.S. businesses. But it’s sitting on 31,000 companies valued at $3.7 trillion that it hasn’t yet been able to exit. For two decades, private equity delivered on its core promise: taking illiquid risk in exchange for... 
by meridith dennes | Feb 1, 2026 | Buy Side, Exit Opportunities, Lateral Recruiting
You didn’t sacrifice two years in banking just to be disappointed. Here’s what nobody tells you about PE—and the alternative paths that might actually get you where you want to go. The Unspoken Truth About Private Equity You did everything right. You... 
by meridith dennes | Dec 27, 2025 | Exit Opportunities, Interviewing, Lateral Recruiting, Summer Internships
The tier obsession is one of the most pervasive—and least examined—features of investment banking culture. Walk into any campus recruiting event, scroll any finance forum, or listen to any group of analysts grabbing drinks after a pitch, and you’ll hear the same... 
by meridith dennes | Jul 27, 2025 | Buy Side, Exit Opportunities, Interviewing
While Wall Street banks rush to implement new policies to prevent analysts from jumping to private equity, Lazard Inc. is taking a different path: they’re simply not going to. CEO Peter Orszag made the comments during the firm’s Q2 earnings call, where he...