Does it make sense to give up a cushy job to go into private credit (Ares / Oaktree / Fortress)?

Did MM IB M&A for 2 years, and now am in a corporate role for a non-finance company making ~180k all in.

Comp was a cut from IB and what I could've made in PE, but I often work 10-40 hours a week hybrid and the demands are very relaxed. Progression is slow with basic 4% increases but I also have some side investments that generate income (rental properties, public equities, etc) that I work on my extra time that generates around another ~50k a year. My goal was always to find ways to actively scale this up

I recently am in the interview process for a private credit group at a well respected firm (Ares / Oaktree / Fortress) as an associate in a direct lending group, comp most likely ~300k all in. I would've loved to do a job like this, but now I'm wondering if it makes sense now that I've found the golden goose in the corporate world.

I'm bored sometimes and not always challenged, but my corp role is probably what a lot of people dream of and isn't always a given in corporate (I probably just got lucky with my team culture / environment). Sometimes I feel insecure that I gave up the finance "prestige" (yeah I know laugh it up) but I'm conflicted whether I want to reenter a relatively stressful job in finance

Anyone in private credit have thoughts on their job satisfaction? Is more money worth going back to the corporate grind?

2 Comments
 

You can always come back, its harder to transition to PC later on so if you're interested in PC do it now and then come back if you don't like it. 

 

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