prop trading VS. big name asset manager

Hi all,


I'm an undergrad going into my first job trying to see which of the following opportunity will give me the greatest growth. I think I would like a job that will offer me a good career trajectory 5-10 years down the road and at the same time not boring to start with (I consider plain excel&powerpoint work boring and that's why I'm not considering starting off in any sell-side banks or consulting firms):

  1. prop trader at a systematic market maker (well known in MM industry but I don't think anyone outside of the industry will recognize the name as much as the other two)

  2. analyst at Blackstone (alternative asset management/BAAM -- still a little confused about what exactly I will be doing or what kind of product I will be working with. Limited information on the web but I have heard from my interviewer that I could potentially manage my own book in the future?)

  3. trading associate at Bridgewater (execution trader essentially -- not the decision maker, purely algo execution. Good pay and I'm not against BW's culture. I think the name is very attractive and I'm not too against the execution work.)


Although I don't have the actual numbers yet, I would expect first-year package to be MM~BW>Blackstone.

I'm currently leaning towards option 1 because I feel like I'll be taking on responsibility the quickest. My concern with option 1 is what I would be doing 5-10 years later. If my goal is to end up doing trading/portfolio management and own my pnl, which of these options would be the best for me?

 

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