Equity Research at Bank vs IG, High Yield & Leveraged Loans Research at Asset Manager

Hello, 
I have just completed a 2 year graduate programme in a top 20 European asset manager (have worked both in fixed income and equities) and have received two separate offers-one from a reputable boutique bank in equity research and another in credit research IG, HY & Leveraged Loan Research at a top 5 European Asset Manager (not Blackrock or PIMCO-but one of the biggest names in Europe & Globally). My goal is long-term to work in a fund (still haven't made up my mind on whether mutual fund or hedge fund). I am interested both in equities due to the higher volatility and leveraged finance due to the opportunity to evaluate restructurings, M&As etc. Which of the two would you recommend-both in terms of long term compensation but also career satisfaction. 
Many thanks

which one?

ER
29% (4 votes)
IG, HY, Leveraged Loans
71% (10 votes)
Total votes: 14
 
Most Helpful

I'm in credit research on the sell-side and I thoroughly enjoy it. Fixed income is much more versatile -- gives you the keys to HY, loans, distressed/rx, CLOs, special sits, opportunistic, MBS/ABS, CDS. Sky's the limit. Less competition. More opportunity to generate alpha. 50+ analysts cover AAPL or MSFT stock while some distressed names might have only 2 analysts. Lot more room for thought leadership, whereas the 49th analyst covering AAPL pretty much has the same bullet points as the 48th one. Credit people can also cover multiple sectors (i.e. one analyst covering 70+ names across TMT/Healthcare/Financials and another guy covering 100 names across Industrials/Utilities/Energy). 

ER is a bit more assumptions-based, publishing-focused, and "in the weeds". Bit more academia-like. You're siloed into a subsector (i.e. hospitals or machinery) with the same 10-20 companies. Some people like that, though. Just make sure you work under a good ER analyst or else your life will be hell. That person pretty much dictates your mood 24/7. You'll spend more time with him/her than at home with your family. 

 

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