Need Help on Long-Term Career Goals

Hey everyone,

I'm an incoming analyst at a MM IB. Very grateful to have landed the offer, but as I've thought more about what I actually want to do long term, I'm wondering whether banking is the right starting point or if I'm potentially pigeonholing myself.

I know a few things about what I want. I want something pretty quantitative/technical (though not coding-heavy), I genuinely enjoy investing and following markets, and I like the idea of having actual ownership over investment decisions rather than just advising clients. I also care a lot about long-term compensation and upside.

Based on what I've read, I'm thinking fundamental investing at a long-only asset manager, HF, or potentially a credit fund would be a good fit. I'm not dead set on equities versus credit, and frankly don't know enough about the day-to-day differences yet.

I guess I have three questions:

1. Are there other careers I should be considering? I'm genuinely curious if there are other areas of finance that fit what I'm describing. I feel like there's a lot out there that I don't know about, and I'd really appreciate hearing about other options.

2. Are these realistic exits from MM IB? I hear endlessly about PE exits, but very little about people going directly into public equities or credit investing. Do long-only shops like Capital Group, Lord Abbett, Wellington, etc., or fundamental HFs actually recruit bankers? Has anyone here made that jump or seen it happen?

3. If not, how would I get there? Would I need to move into ER or credit research first? Is it worth trying to recruit directly out of banking, or would I be better off taking some intermediate step? I'm also wondering if there's anything I should be doing during my analyst stint to keep these options open.

I realize I haven't even started working yet, and my interests might change. I'm just trying to get a better sense of what's realistically possible from my starting point before I get too far down a path that's difficult to switch out of.

Would really appreciate any advice or firsthand experience. Thanks everyone.