Offer decision - Two offers

Currently have two offers, and would greatly appreciate any help or insight:

One is for S&T analyst at a middle market bank not in NYC. Desk selections happen later, so I could get S or T (most likely sales from what I understand) and I could end up on any desk.

Other is with the Asset Backed Securitization group of a BB. It is a rotational program, with specific groups to be determined later.

Here is what I am thinking right now: Although at the start of the recruiting process my goal was to get onto a trading desk, I am actually currently leaning towards taking the securitization offer. Although I don't really know too much about the securitization market, it seems to be pretty interesting and something I could enjoy doing. I also think that starting out at a bigger bank could have a lot of benefits as well. It also seems like it is quite possible to move onto the structured products trading desk after a couple years, as quite a few traders and sales-people I met started out on the securitization side first. Of course, the concern I have about securitization is that the market has completely tanked over the past few years, and is only slowly starting to pick up again. I also worry a bit about getting pigeon holed pretty early on into securitized products, which is necessarily a bad thing, but having options later on is always nice. And just out of curiosity, anyone know what bonuses looked like this year in the asset backed groups (at the analyst level at least)?

And although I am probably more interested in a trading gig, from what I understand about the MM firm, most people start out in sales (I can't see myself doing or being good at sales), and it takes at least a year or two for people to move into a trading seat (and this is in no way guaranteed). It's also a smaller bank, with a lot less clients than a BB bank might have, and bonuses have historically been terrible (although col savings of not being in NY might offset this).

So I guess some general questions I have are, where do you guys think the securitization market is going? And what is it like working on the trading desk of a MM bank?

Please let me know if there is anything else I should consider or if my thinking is just completely wrong. I have to make this decision pretty soon, so any help would be greatly appreciated (and rewarded with SBs)!

 
Best Response

From what your saying, I would go with the BB. At the early levels everyone gets the same bonus and no product group should stop you from making a high bonus. Also, the market is picking back up again so you could start doing a lot of deals in the next 12-24 months. The BB has better exit ops, and you said it yourself, that the MM pays a crappy bonus.

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