blackrock vs ibd

Hi need some advice,

apologies for how long this is.. so going into university I was unsure what I wanted to do, I knew I was interested in finance but unsure where specifically, so I applied to everywhere, I ended up getting a few offers, two IBD m&a offers at top investment banks, one dcm offer from an tier 3 bank, and an offer for Asset Management at BlackRock, now everywhere I read BlackRock is meant to be one of the most prestigious places and the end goal for most bankers, my interviewers were all ex bankers from tier 1s and said to me its really rare to start out at the buyside and they wished they had the opportunity I have to go straight into it from university in fact they told me they only plan to make up to 4 offers this year for my division so I feel quite lucky to get this offer. Also One of the guys from the bank I have an IBD offer from was saying how his goal is to move to the buyside after and said he would take BlackRock if he was in my position.

But I really do need advice, I am far more interested in IBD than asset management, but then with asset management you can have a life and its the buyside? also blackrocks base salary is a lot lower than my ibd offers which is annoying, anyone who works in either of these industries mind commenting your views? (if you work at BlackRock i would appreciate a PM and i can talk to you about the team I'll be in etc)

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