Should I stay in PE or move to IB?

Hello Everyone,

I’m wanting advice as to whether I should stay in my current private equity analyst role or move to investment banking.

Here’s the scenario. I have a current analyst role in my hometown, it’s not a large town whatsoever, it’s a capital of a Midwestern state. So a smaller city for sure, in the range of 300k - 1,000k if the include the larger metro area.

I also have an offer to work in a major finance city (NY, LA, Boston) for a decent sized lower-MM bank (think Stifel, RJ, etc.)

The offer from the investment bank is definitely up-market, considering my current PE fund is ~$200m in total funds.

The pe culture here is great, ~55 hour work weeks, reasonable comp, and get to sit in on really awesome calls with entrepreneurs and listen to them tell their story. I really love it it’s awesome. But also, bigger IB offers so many exit opps and is a great experience in terms of training, etc.

What do people think would be the better opportunity? I also know that it comes down to what you value. If you want better exit ops, go for the decent sized IB shop in one of the major cities. Although the PE shop does have a great rep, just not sure whether it would work for exit opps, for example you could leave the MM bank for a big pe fund in a major city, but could you leave the small pe fund in a non-major city for a big pe fund in a major city?

Plus I think having at least a full-year of IB experience would be very valuable.

Thoughts?