Make the client book provably portable by leading a marquee fairness-opinion or cross-border deal under your own name in the next 12 months — auction-grade lift-out bids hinge on a named anchor mandate, not relationships alone.

Transition one rung to group head or capital-allocator (PE operating partner, sovereign fund) by 45 — the next ladder rung carries the OVR difference between 82 and 88; staying MD past 45 caps you.

Pair the title with a second visibility surface (deal commentary at a tier-1 conference, a public board seat at a portfolio co) — currently 'active' but not 'industry_known', and that gap is the cheapest 3–4 OVR points left to capture.