Should I renege my SS ER FT offer for this opportunity?

Hey guys, 

Last summer I interned in ER at a top BB and received a return offer. Before accepting it, I applied to a large AM (1Trillion+ AUM)  but they never got back to me so I took the BB ER offer. A few months later I heard back from the AM about an interview, so I decided to give it a go. I got the through the interview rounds and just received a full-time offer from them but now I'm unsure if I should renege on the SS offer. The AM position is for product strategy so I couldn't be in a fundamental research seat, however, I don't see why it would be difficult to lateral into a research position after a year or two in product strategy. Another factor is that I won't be placed into a team for the SS position until I start full-time, so I could potentially end up on a crappy team if that's all they have available. 

Should I accept the AM offer and hope to move to a research role or should I just go with the SS ER position? 

Most Helpful

I would stick with SS ER

What you said is not true. At least at BB ER, you are learning the skills that are relevant for research (minus the intellectual honesty part). It's more difficult to break into research from product strategy than from BB ER, because what you do in product strategy has nothing to do with research individual companies and valuing stocks (unless I am missing something). 

Firms are hiring for skills, not for affiliation. 

Dick & the above poster hit the nail on the head if your goal is investment research. Every firm is different, but on the surface it feels like the uncertainty of transitioning to a research seat is high, while the probability of a talented SS associate moving to a buy side job is higher. I suspect that the move from product to the research seat would require prior research experience, even internally, and it may not be as simple as performing well from the product role. If it’s doable, it probably wouldn’t be zero-sum - meaning that maybe you’d be expected to pass xXx amount of CFA levels or do deep dives on specific companies on the off chance that you talk to someone about your research, and that person is in a position to help you. Product at a large AM is a great job though so follow what you think you’d be more passionate about. Congrats either way.

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