Can't decide my group (M&A vs. Industrials)

Will you help out a humble monkey decide its future group? Group selection in my BB is coming up and I've ranked both M&A and Industrials in my top 3 (with M&A as a first choice). I'll be interning for the summer in a Top 5-10 BB.

Reasons I ranked M&A first:

  • did not want to specialize in an industry sector
  • exposure to execution and modelling
  • strong group in my BB
  • allows me to keep my options open with good exit opportunities in Corp Dev, start ups, etc.
  • good fit with an associate I've met from the team (but no news since)
  • maybe the only product team that will not pigeonhole you in a few years (which I feel is the case of LevFin for example)

Cons:

  • a significant amount of analysts choose M&A with hopes of going into PE with their modelling experience; my ultimate goal is a long term career in banking (10+) and why not have access to key offices in my home country down the road (a lot of government experts were previous IBD MDs)

Interest in Industrials:

  • the team is looking to increase its headcount
  • great fit; was contacted on the phone with someone who asked me why I did not rank their team first and whether I'd like to change that
  • while I will have to specialize in Industrials, you get to work on numerous and very different verticals within the team
  • high profile deals sourced by the team in the past
  • also a strong group, but an important industry vertical of theirs was recently regrouped with another team
  • (more subjective) I like the low-key atmosphere combined with a strong and resilient performance through the years. Not always topping league tables but will consistently appear on one of the highest profile deals of the year.

Cons:

  • lower execution to pitch ratio
  • I also like working on healthcare, tech, energy...I'd be kind of sad knowing I won't get a chance to see how these firms work from the inside.

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