Fixed Income Research Associate Role

I have an offer from a top asset manager (Blackrock/Fidelity/Wellington) for a fixed income research associate role.  I initially wanted to go into equity research although prioritized ending up on the buyside over staying in equities.  I do find fixed income just as if not more interesting than equities, although am concerned that FI research might leave me with limited opportunities if I want to leave AM, especially since the role deals primarily with investment grade debt.  Will it be far more difficult to exit to a HF coming from FI research as opposed to ER?  Also, what funds or strategies might be interested in taking on someone with buyside FI experience?

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I would not worry about the exit opportunities - fixed income is a huge world, and having that type of name on your CV along with a few years (at least) of experience is a really good thing to have. I'd argue that if you are interested in research, IG is a great place to start as it gives you the runway to really build out your skills. Once you've got general and/or sector expertise - you can expand out into other things, maybe focus on securitized if that interests you specifically or high yield. Maybe it's simply build out expertise within a sector. Depends on what interests you and the path you want to take. 

More importantly - there are a TON of hedge funds, private debt funds, CLO shops, distressed debt investors, unconstrained strategies (that might as well be a hedge fund) etc. etc. out there that you can take a look at coming from a fixed income role. I'd argue that fixed income gives you as diverse as set of opportunities as ER would - maybe even more, though I'm certain there's posters on here who could tell me I'm crazy (which probably is a true statement). Obviously it all depends on what you end up doing, your skill set, etc. 

 Regardless - I think if it's something that interests you, it's a great opportunity to start with. I know plenty of people at my firm who would kill to be a fixed income analyst - IG or otherwise. 

 

Hi, I know this isn't directly related to the discussion but wanted to know if you had any tips on how to prep for a fixed income analyst role. I'll soon be starting on a fixed income desk, at a middle market AM, as a first year and wanted to see if I was overlooking anything in my own prep. 

Thanks!

 

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