What’s the most big brained area of non-quant finance?

I am doing vanilla buyouts at the moment and honestly even though I’m at a prestigious firm, and people are more sharp/polished than in banking, folks definitely don’t seem to be intellectual in any remote sense. 

Lately was given the prospect of going into a distressed debt HF role and it seemed on paper like a more intellectual job. 
 

Which asset class is most big-brained in your opinion? Stereotypes ok. Quant is obvious answer but as a lowly econ major that’s not an option. 

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Special sits / opportunistic credit where you are investing across various asset classes (corporate, royalties, real estate, loan pools, etc.) and structures from debt to equity (public and private). Having to be up to speed on each asset class and to be able to think through risk / reward across each part of the capital structure (or whether to lend to or buy assets) is one of the most complex skillsets in finance. 

 

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