Should I change geography, bank, or sell side to buy side first?

Currently an incoming analyst at a lower-tier European bank in London. End goal is to ultimately work in NYC in a buy side role (am US+UK citizen). I see 3 potential options:

  1. Lateral to NYC in same company after some time (though concerned after 1-1.5 years, I would miss majority of buy side recruiting- I would focus on MM firms realistically)
  2. Try break into buy side in London, then move to NYC (do buy side companies even really allow this?)
  3. Try lateral to a better bank, then to buy side (would it even be worth focusing on buy side for London given less roles+preference for European language speakers?)

    Currently assuming trying to change bank+geography would be v difficult. Thoughts on what would be best?

3 Comments
 

I think it depends on the bank you are at and their internal mobility policies. Otherwise it depends on their presence in the US. 

I don’t think not knowing a European language necessarily locks you out of London buy-side because a lot of the teams will still do deals in the UK or with English speakers, so I think realistically all your options are viable, especially given you have both US and UK citizenship.

 

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