zbird2134

I've been in BV for about 8 years now. First, the cons:

1. A lot of mediocre people. You get a lot of finance guys who couldn't quite get into banking, asset management, etc. Or you get the bean counters who move up into BV, especially since all the accounting firms now have valuation practices.

2. As an extension to the above, the field is becoming more and more dominated by the accounting firms. They tend to be very formulaic in their valuations, and generally not much insight. Worse, they have increasing clout and are influencing the way the profession is evolving. If you've ever dealt with auditors, then you know why this is not a great outlook.

3. Pay can be crappy relative to other finance jobs. If I were at a big 4, I'd probably be a sr. manager. That pay grade is probably $140-180k depending on the geographic market. Not the end of the world, but definitely not great in comparison to the other jobs you might be considering. There is certainly potential for much higher comp at the partner level.

4. A lot of the same old ideas are rehashed over and over. People do attempt to innovate on the theoretical front, but I haven't seen too much that was truly original. Even then, it wouldn't make its way out of the BV community.

5. A lot of technical knowledge that is really only relevant to the strange little world of BV. As Higgmond stated above, not a lot of lateral moves after you've accumulated 5-7 years.

6. Fees are definitely coming down or at least stagnant. Again, too many bean counters getting into the game.

I could list a number of more cons, but that would just be nitpicking. On the other hand, there are a lot of offsetting pros (otherwise I obviously wouldnt stay in the field). Unfortunately, I find myself out of time as I write this. I'll try to drop back in in the next couple days to provide the flip side. Stay posted for round 2.