Should I take lateral offer to IB (tier 2 BB) from equity research (tier 1 BB)

I have a difficult decision to make and was hoping to hear some thoughts from fellow monkeys. I am currently in an equity research (ER) associate role at a tier 1 bank (JPM/MS/GS - I know they are not in the same league II-wise) and have always wanted to lateral to IB - I think the work is more interesting and comp is better, and ER is in structural decline and I feel like I am plateauing professionally at this point. I interviewed at at a BB in the IB industry group that I cover in ER, and recently secured an offer from a tier 2 BB (BAML/Barclays/Citi/DB/CS) for an IB Associate position. The IB team has a great pipeline and is in the top 5 on the league tables, and I did like all the people I met during my interviews.

I wanted to seek everyone's thoughts on the opportunity and advice on my course of action. Should I take the offer and not look back or are there other options to consider? Should I wait for an internal position to open up in the IB coverage group at my current BB and try to lateral internally? Would I be able to leverage the offer to be considered internally? I am nearing 2 years in my current ER role and although I am very interested in doing IB, I am wondering if I should bother pursuing IB as that would set my career back (I have a graduate degree and worked in industry prior), and I should just leverage my current ER experience and go to the buyside. However, I have never really been interested in joining buyside HF and am more IB/industry-oriented.

Any advice and thoughts are greatly appreciated!

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