Buyside Crossroads

Associate at a fund with a strong team and great work-life balance (keeping details vague for anonymity). The role has gotten pretty comfortable, maybe a little too comfortable, with most tasks feeling routine, aside from some of the more complex, senior-level work like heavy legals, which isn’t expected at my level. Hours are usually 9-6/7 with flexibility and no facetime culture. Late nights are rare (only stayed past midnight twice this past year), and weekend work is mostly about getting ahead, not really required.

Comp is below market, basically IB analyst-level, despite a solid bonus (hit 75% of the max last year, with a clear path to 100% this year). Exploring roles at larger shops where total comp is 40% to 90% higher. The lower end would likely mean similar or slightly longer hours, while the upper end would be more like a 9-10/11pm schedule.

Banking was rough, constantly felt underwater, made a ton of mistakes, and dealt with all kinds of pointless formatting and FDD minutiae that never played to my strengths. My current role eliminates those pain points and seems to align well with my skill set.

The question is: have I already found the best setup for me, or is it worth making a move for better pay, a bigger platform, and a deeper learning experience? Would that put me back in the kind of unhappiness I felt in banking? The work would obviously be different, want to get the wso take.