Building a Career in IR: Seeking Advice

How do you assess the risk/reward between working in IR at a large shop, multiple asset classes and products so you’re insulated from one strategy blowing up… vs a smaller firm with better comp and perceived upside career-wise? (assume the small shop is well regarded and looking to raise new funds/strategies) Currently, I’m an associate in sales and relationship management at an asset manager that has a variety of products and capabilities. The best part of the job has been the exposure to Institutional investors, senior PMs and leadership..and the resulting ability to learn about a variety of asset classes and develop communication skills from people far more senior than me. Ive worked my way out of an operations role to my current seat.. my family’s broke.. so I’m risk adverse and driven by financial security more than anything else. I’m trusted by the Senior RMs and have a clear path growing where I am and running point on large relationships, however, the pay is awful relative to the hours and travel, and I’ve watched many peers move over the years.. notably the strongest ones. They’ve all taken what they’ve learned and joined smaller teams with a narrower product set.. inherently more risk riding on performance, but far better comp and growth opportunities as far as I can tell. In IR, there is a balance where moving late in your career means you’re expected to have a long list of relationships that will get you in the door with investors who can write checks..(and fast) but earlier in your career, if you’re willing to grind 70 hour weeks for half the IB comp because you enjoy the work and have no financial security.. there’s not much competition and the senior relationship people measured by sales will give you exposure to their best clients.. providing you a potential runway. My gut is to leave early for a smaller, mid-size shop.. realize a large base increase, still in a junior RM role.. and work my way up at that firm. As opposed to continuing to grind for far below market comp but strengthening my existing book of relationships, and leaving down the line for a much larger check.. but more upfront risk in pulling in money day 1. I’d love to hear any thoughts from others in the “dying” institutional sales world, on how they’ve navigated or would navigate this situation. Im not going to a PE firm with one fund.. I’d be looking to downsize to a firm closer to 100bn in AUM, that has a specialization (don’t care what it is) but more diverse revenue stream than a single fund: i.e, AQR, Blue Owl, DESCO, Davidson Kempner, Crescent to name a few.