A2A vs Buyside - Should I stay in banking?
I am a 2nd year analyst at an EB in a regional office. I didn't participate in the 2022 on-cycle recruiting that seems to be wrapping up now for a couple reasons. One reason is that no matter how much I research about PE/GE (have been on-and-off researching about buyside this past year), I can't seem to get myself to be interested in it. The idea of investing in general and looking at / analyzing a bunch of companies and evaluating whether or not they will be good investments doesn't sound very interesting to me. Second reason is that I actually can see myself staying in banking.
For context, I am considering taking the A2A, since I never felt like I really dislike the work or feel overwhelmed (I've only had 4~5 really brutal weeks this past year). Our team is relatively small and I like the senior bankers (definitely more respectful of their junior bankers than the norm from what I've heard) and have a good relationship with them.
However, I can't shake off the feeling that I will be missing an opportunity if I don't participate in buyside recruiting during my analyst years. I do know that PE has potentially better exit opps, since not only does it open up higher buyside roles, but also gives me the option to return to banking if I wish to do so. To be very honest though, part of me is thinking this because that's just what everyone else is saying/doing.
I honestly don't mind the work I'm doing in banking, the pay is good and our group's hours are pretty good relative to other banks (averaging around ~70 hours a week ). But part of me feels like I'm just being lazy about recruiting / preparing and convincing myself that I should stay. Sorry for being so back and forth but it's just how my mind has been these days especially with recruiting in full swing.
Any insight would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!
As an A-A associate at an EB, I went through exactly what you're going through.
I personally didn't feel like spending time doing diligence, arguing working capital minutia, plugging into the same models, dealing with diligence vendors and drafting investment memos on a recurring basis was that much more compelling of an opportunity than my current banking job (this is a pessimistic view of investing, don't get me wrong I fully respect the career just not for me)
After talking to a lot of mentors and peers, I came to realize that I appreciated my group, liked seniors, etc much as you described. And ultimately, didn't want to leave banking for a somewhat better experience. I wanted to leave when I found something that I would LOVE. Until then, I tend to like the high level strategic thinking within IB, working with execs and plotting out the chessboard of the industry I cover (maybe grandoise description but whatever). Plus the pay these days is quite nice (thanks GS13).
As for your question about opportunities, my personal experience is that I have received just as frequent of inbounds from headhunters/companies. Definitely don't think the door is closed despite you not fitting the mold of the traditional on-cycle recruiting process. I have A-A friends who have - after a couple more years - decided they wanted to try buyside and entered as a senior associate. I know more A-A friends who have left and become senior managers in strategy roles and are doing well there.
The constant here is everyone still wound up in a place they liked and their long-term career is uninterrupted. We're young! 23, 24, 25 years old? A couple more years anywhere isn't going to stop you from achieving what you're set out to do :)