2nd-Year LMM IB Analyst - Career Advice?

Hi all,

So for some background, I am currently a 2nd-year analyst at an LMM boutique (not NYC) and I am trying to figure out where to go from here. Have experience primarily in specialty finance asset-based lending and we do a lot of deals in private capital advisory, so I've been pursuing opportunities in that route (asset-based lending against loan portfolios at private credit funds, etc.). But the thing is, I'm not entirely sure what I want to do at this point besides be at a larger platform in NYC, and I've considered a few options given my interests and experience:

  • Lateral to a FIG group at a larger bank
  • Move to buyside (ABL private credit)
  • Move to sponsor DL (a bit more difficult I've found given that our dealflow is mostly arranging asset-based loans, not sponsor-backed cash flow loans)
  • Private capital advisory at a larger bank (not sure what the exit opps would be here compared to DCM/LevFin)
  • LevFin at a larger bank (either stay or use this to pivot to sponsor DL)
  • Securitized products team at a larger bank (ABS origination - would mostly be interested in esoteric ABS given my experience)

Any thoughts? I am in a couple of processes right now and staying in the ABL space definitely seems interesting (lot going on in the private debt side here with respect to lending against music royalties, litigation finance receivables, etc.) but I am wondering if I should leverage the non-traditional experience I have and just go do that on the underwriting side or lateral into a more traditional pathway.

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