Risk Quant at BB - 2nd master to break into FO?

Hi everyone and thanks in advance for any advice,

As the title suggests I am currently a risk quant (counterparty credit risk) at a top BB (MS/GS/JP) in London, I have been here for about 6 months and previously I did an MSc in Applied Maths from Obxridge. 

The job here is not stressful and the hours are good (9:30 to 6:30 most days), but it's very boring and I am not doing any pricing/stochalc/C++, mostly Python quant development. 

My goal is to end up in structuring or at least front office quant. I applied for some desk quant roles and got a couple of interviews at other BBs but didn't pass them (although I am doing much better and I think I did reasonably well in the last one I did). I also have an offer to do a 2nd MSc, specifically Maths and Finance at Imperial (which I think is top 3 in europe along with oxford MCF and Dea El Karoui) and now I am really not sure whether to resign and do the masters or just stay at my current job and keep applying for FO quant roles. The tuition fee is not a big issue, it's more the fact that I really don't want to go back from working to being in university. But I would do it if it's the best choice.

The way I see it, the pros of doing the second master is that I can apply for summer internships in S&T and off-cycle FO quant, that it is very well-known in the city and that perhaps I would learn some useful stuff (even though I already know most of the stuff in the curriculum tbh). The cons are the opportunity cost of leaving my job and the risk of not getting a job better than my current one even after the MSc (if I don't do the master, my plan would be to move to a FO desk quant job as soon as possible and then try to move from that to structuring in 2/3 years)

What do you guys think?

1 Comments
 

Nobis expedita est facilis nostrum consequatur provident occaecati. Iste id exercitationem nam dolore est. Cupiditate ea et porro.

Cum accusamus dicta veniam sunt distinctio accusantium facere. Quod quia aut quo sit. Voluptatum culpa corporis doloribus eveniet alias.

Et reiciendis suscipit eos culpa consequatur. Sed debitis nesciunt eius assumenda accusantium voluptatibus consequatur. Quis iste qui quam nesciunt quasi.

Similique quo alias ad dolores. Ad libero consequuntur doloribus consequatur pariatur.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”