So I'm in a fortunate position post-MBA where I'm in the final round about to receive offers from a few different places. I have the option to become an equity research associate at two different banks working for well regarded analysts, both who've gotten great exit opps for their associates, either becoming analysts themselves or moving on to private equity, corp dev, etc. The other option is to go to a very reputable global valuation shop working on some really interesting issues.
A couple of things factoring in to my decision:
*Research is in decline - as much as I'd love analyzing stocks, the profession is really hurting and the buy side roles I'd have the best chance of moving into are also in bad shape from what I hear. That's not even considering what might happen with MiFid II in North America
*Research will have higher comp to start, especially from bonuses, but worse hours. The coverage universe and publication rate these analysts have will be taxing. Not banker hours, but 80 hours/week is a reasonable expectation from what I've been told
*The valuation shop has better work/life balance, more options to work from home. Part of the downside is you have to review every single document for the files your working on which can get tedious.
*The valuation shop is willing to give me exposure to MM corp finance and restructuring if I'm interested. They've brought in a new crop of senior bankers who are bringing in deals. The valuation shop is also recession proof with no shortage of work.
*The partners at the valuation shop have expressed the willingness to help me build my own brand as my career progresses, talking to some of the people at the level I would be working at, it appears they're willing to let them get involved in business development and taking ownership of their own smaller engagements.
*If I don't take this opportunity to do research now, I'll probably never get the opportunity again. I can always go back to valuations later, but probably not in a practice as prestigious as this one.
Any thoughts?
I work in Valuations, go with ER. You can easily exit to Valuations if you dislike ER or if the industry decline affects you. The only reason I would choose the Valuations position is if work-life balance is your primary concern. Personally, I am working on my CFA and would like to jump from Valuations to ER or AM.
Being in valuations previously myself i would say go with the ER option and you can decide later if you like it. Its easy to go from ER to valuation but more difficult to go from valuation to ER.
Hope this helps.
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