Hi guys - might be a bit of a read here but need your help and guidance. For background, I'm at a MMPE shop in a pretty small team. There are two guys above me, MD and a D. The MD and D joined at the same time and I was hired by them, one year behind them.
I enjoy working with my MD, he's astute, knows his stuff inside and out, financially, technically and has great relationships/sourcing capabilities. I don't expect anything less from individuals that are more senior than me, are on my team, are individuals that I can respect and learn from.
I am having issues with the D probably ever since I hit the 1 year mark and more frequently lately as I get to spend more time with him. He has jumped around firms probably every 2-3 years, is only 2-3 years younger than the MD (D was slow in progressing up the ladder) and has probably stayed the longest in his current firm.
On the job, he does not have a good set of core skills, is weak technically and does not have sound knowledge in his 'industry'. He is extremely slow in grasping concepts and has a poor understanding of things in general. I would read something in 10 minutes and fully understand it, he would spend a couple hours on it, and then ask me a boatload of questions on it to make sure he understands and at times, admit it to me one-on-one, 'help me understand it'. Or if I don't fully understand it, and I ask him, he would instead try to BS his way out of it. This happens so frequently I am embarrassed that he is more senior than I am and that he is my co-worker. In my years working with him, the D probably adds 5% value or less to the overall portfolio or investments. He listens to my MD's words like it's gospel and hides behind him most of the time (absorb whatever MD says and regurgitates everything back instead of having his own view), not to mention, throws me under the bus some times, i.e. I would suggest Path A, he would say take Path B and let's show Path B to the MD, MD says Path A is right because of this, this and that.
He is a good person and can converse 24/7 about non-work-related topics, knows how to 'shine other shoes well', says the right things to other senior management and always pushes and delegates responsibility to others.
Lately, I have been having more issues with him and almost can't take it anymore. In my mind, I can't believe how he can stand being in the position that he is in, not understanding anything and still have the dignity to be in this realm. I guess his uptick he is getting paid boatloads more than I am so he is trying to squeeze as much out of it as possible. I think if it all comes down to it, if my MD had to pick one of us to let go between myself and my D, he would still keep the D and let me know instead fully knowing his capabilities.
I have a couple questions stuck in my mind.
- Others or myself can totally replace him couple times over, yet the MD still keeps him around. Is my MD nonsensical or at that level, you just prefer to have a senseless dog around you instead of having a competent individual around?
- Is it because in the latter case, the MD feels threatened about his prospects since there would be competition and hence, if he keeps him around, the MD would always have the power and there would be no threat? Does that not seem really shallow from the MD perspective?
- Am I being too obnoxious thinking so little of my D? I told a friend (external to the industry) and she said I was being obnoxious and said I should look around and check the titles, because at the end of the day, I am still 'junior' to the D and I should show respect.
Any help is much appreciated. I've been bouncing off the walls trying to keep my sense of self dealing with this BS.