Next Moves: BB Risk Vertical vs. CB Lateral

Spent the last nine months at a boutique debt shop in IB (Structured Products) - got laid off ~ 2 mos. ago, currently navigating two offers:

1) Market Risk Associate at foreign BB (think chocolate, cheese, watches) covering ABS/RMBS/CMBS repo and longer-term structured financing (mostly Total Return Swaps, includes wider range of collateral e.g. CLOs). Kind of a weird setup; work 4 days a week at flagship in Midtown, 1 day a week in Stamford, the only person on my team in NYC. 100k base, discretionary bonus next March. Obvious lifestyle perks but more or less closing the door on banking unless I get my MBA. I'm early enough in my career that I could try to work my way onto a trading desk if I liked it enough.

2) Corporate Banking Analyst at large (think maple syrup and dark pools) foreign bank in FiDi. The group is small (7 people without me) and covers banks, from mega cap to small regional shops. Seems to be a rather strong emphasis on how Basel, Dodd-Frank, etc. are forcing clients to rework their balance sheets and products that will best serve these needs in the future. 85k base, getting the paperwork tomorrow. No idea what corporate banking bonuses are like, but salary seems decent for the role.

Personally, I think I would find the work and subject matter at 1) more interesting, and it's very hard to argue against fewer hours for higher base salary, but I've received warning from friends/family on the street that it will have less long-term career potential than 2), which will develop a more versatile skillset and provide more in the way of long-term options. While I haven't considered Corporate Banking "front office" up until this point, some have stated that any banking position working on deals & with exposure to clients is considered front office, IB or otherwise.

Thoughts? I have until Wednesday to decide. I get the sense that there are a lot of IB enthusiasts on here, so some confirmation of the advice I've received thus far would be helpful. Thankful.

 

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