Asset Management Operations

Over the summer, I got an AM ops summer analyst internship at a BB, think (MS,GS,JPM) in a non financial hub location. I worked in the asset servicing team which wasn't my favorite, but I did enjoy having my "foot in the door" as non glamorous as it felt and getting to talk to people on my team and in the firm who seemed brighter than the run of mill office jobs employees and got exposure to the inner workings of the bank despite not being FO.  It was a job that somewhat aligned with my major of finance and given that it was my junior year going on senior I decided to go for it. I got the return offer and going to work FT post graduation. The team was filled by the time I left so the specific team I'd be returning to is still up in the air.  If there's one thing clear about WSO, it's that Ops is hated with all the fury in the world and folks think its parallel to a Denny's waiter or garbage man and I don't blame them, the IBD guys do take the cake for job function, pay, exit ops etc. For me, however, it was a opportunity given the fact that no one in my family has been involved or worked in Finance and living middle class all my life, it will give me the opportunity to out earn my dad within the next 1-2 years and give me and my family a better life. I do want to stay in the BB space given the exposure to various teams and people and I do want to take on a client facing role in the future.  I am just wondering what essentially the career progression could look like or various routes that are possible to take. Was wondering also the differences between IB Ops and Asset Management Ops.  Talking to some FO folks in the equity teams and some portfolio managers during the summer it seemed that lateral movement was possible and that it wasn't the end of the world to be working in ops which could be easy to say when you're FO. Again, I understand the whole "work in ops, stay in ops forever sentiment" and the fact that its seen as the scum of the earth but I want to hear your opinion and what you would do in my shoes.