Career / Recruiting Advice Need - Strategic Development to PE?

Hi all,

Background - 2 years of tech investment banking (1 yr boutique, 1 year EB) before making a decision to join the strategic development and M&A team of a leading insurance company in order to stay in NYC with NYC.

While I have enjoyed the better WLB (albeit at lower comp), I mainly joined due to the promise of a balanced mix of M&A and investment work. However, due to a recent reorg, the team has been split into investments and M&A, and I am currently stuck on the M&A-only team. 

I have tried to recruit for outside investments / PE opportunities but have had no luck. I understand that the market is slow and I am competing with laid off bankers as well. I have reached out to old HH contacts but have largely been ghosted as well.

My question is have I missed the boat on recruiting for PE roles? Should I consider jumping back into IB in order to have a better chance to recruit for PE or wait out until the market improve?

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