Career impasse

Hello All,

I have been a long time lurker on WSO and the site has been very helpful to me throughout my short professional career. Now I need your help in terms of determining what to do next.

For quick background: I graduated in December 2017 and joined a balance sheet heavy bank within their investment portfolio in March of 2018. For context, this is the bank's excess money that we deploy in the market. I was placed in the corporate division where we invest in fixed income securities of larger corporations. I initially joined as a portfolio analyst providing support to the main group of investment professionals. However, due to some turnover, I was promoted to a full time research/investment analyst to the team in March 2019. Since then, I have been responsible for making my own investments.

I have been thinking now might be a good time to make a move to a credit hedge fund. However, most positions I see are basically looking for associate level members. I understand I'm reasonably young but I don't want to necessarily take a step back professionally. I enjoy the fact that I have a lot of autonomy in my day to day and like the ability to make my own investment decisions. So, what should I do? Should I try to stick it out a bit longer and get some more experience or should I just bite the bullet and go to a hedge fund but at more of an entry level role?

Thank you in advance for any guidance you might provide!