AM vs SS ER. Help me choose

I have locked the two offers thankfully after endless pitching and exhausting interviews processes. The ER offer is at a reputable sell-side name, though I don't know enough to make a judgement about the analyst(s) I'll be reporting to. The AM offer is at a very decent company (+400B).

LO AM has been my dream, but truth be told the salary is depressing, quite frankly. And with London tax rates, the difference is magnified (+£25k).

If comp is the sticking point, what do you think is the right choice?

PS I have passed CFA level 2 and will soon start level 3 prep.

Just a slight edit for more details. The AM offer explicitly mentions that the program is rotational and so I should be looking for rapid comp improvement in 2 years. Given that I have experience in EM equities and also pitched European contrarian equities they'll be training me for those specific fields. The sell-side offer is for covering global industrials, which I believe is an attractive field for future AM shift. 

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The obvious choice here is AM. You said it yourself that it’s your dream. I know it’s easier to give this advice than take it, but the short term difference in pay is not the right way to think about this. Especially given your offer is at a reputable, scaled shop and that you have visibility into increasing pay. Buy side work will be more intellectually satisfying, probably better hours and better aligns with your career goals. Who knows if you’ll get another chance to enter the industry after a couple years on the sellside? It’s certainly an exit, but definitely not a given. This is from a U.S. perspective if that matters.

 

Take the LO AM job. I'm someone who had to make the same decision you did and take a short term pay cut to get into a field I really enjoy. I'm also from the US but a large number of people in my program are in London as well. I am admittedly wishing for a bit better comp pretty soon, so I get it, but just take the offer. You'll thank yourself for doing it once you sign. 

If you have any specific questions about my situation and why I picked my current company, feel free to message me or reply on this thread, happy to talk more!

 

Hi mate, appreciate your offer to talk! I'm more than happy to get in touch privately just as I'm out of this recruitment stress & chaos. I legit can't put my schedules back together LOL.

I could've recruited for IB very easily btw, but like you said, passion beats money. Also tbf, if the info I heard about long-term comp is correct, you do make more sense.

 

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