Consultant Trying to Break into Industry Group

I am facing somewhat of a unique situation and trying to decide between two potential avenues. My hope is to get into investment banking.

As background, I went to a decent school and earned mediocre grades, I graduated in 2014. I have since been working at a small consulting firm that focuses on the insurance industry. However, my company's partners are in the process of finalizing a sale of the firm; I don't want to count on staying here as it may soon not be an option. As I see it, I have two paths to choose from:

  1. A competitor firm has tried to recruit me a few times. I could easily go there and continue providing consulting to the insurance industry. The idea here is that I continue trying to network my way into an industry coverage group. Networking has been going okay the trouble is that I'm fairly constrained and have a narrow focus—there are just a few firms I can target. I have created a valuation and merger model for an insurance industry transaction and run my own equity research coverage of a few sector names. The few people who have looked at my models have given me good feedback and are trying to help.

  2. Alternatively, I can go to work at a large, prestigious insurance firm in a client services-type role. The work would probably be less interesting and less enriching than consulting but I would have a better shot at business school and then breaking in after.

Additionally, I have passed all three levels of the CFA exam.

Somewhat of a specific scenario but would appreciate any advice.

2 Comments
 

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