Career ladder
The climb
Promotion needs returns and standing at the same time. Push leverage and you'll hit the IRR bar; lose the committee's trust and you'll never clear the reputation one.
Browse every seat
Educational simulation · Private capital
Start as an analyst. See if you can make partner.
Each year you make three calls: what to pay, how much to borrow, how hard to dig, when to sell. Then the year plays out. Rates move, a buyer walks, a lender gets nervous. The longer you last, the harder it gets.
6 ranks
Analyst to Partner. Each rank has its own bar for promotion.
3 decisions a year
Then rates, buyers, regulators and the weather get a say.
5 challenge runs
Fixed mandates with a carbon target and a return floor.
Scenario of the week · 2026-W43
Buy-side Analyst
Committee
The PM likes it for the wrong reason
Your idea is going into the book, but the PM's reason is a takeover rumour you deliberately excluded from the thesis.
One way to play it
“Say nothing. The position is what you wanted”
3 options, each with a different consequence a few years out.
Challenge runs
The mandate
Cement chemistry, stranded terminals, insurers withdrawing cover, a snowline moving up the mountain. Hit the carbon target without breaking the return floor.
See all 5