How Does One Choose Their Path?

I've been working in IB for a bit now, and while the experience is good, I cant imagine myself here for the long-term. I realized that the reason why I got into finance in the first place was because I was interested in investing, and as you know M&A isnt about that. Also, after long introspection, I realized that I'll probably never be happy with where I am as long as I am working for someone else (being a PM would probably be different as I guess they are similar to business owners).

So what this all essentially boils down to is that while out of all things that I could do as a profession, Id enjoy investing the most, at the end of the day, what I really want is to have my own thing/be an owner, as Im guessing many of us here.

Of course based on this description, the ideal job would be going around and investing my own money in whatever, but lets face it, thats not happening anytime soon. So what Im looking for is the optimal path for me to maximize my chance of getting there/get as close as possible to that.

 
straighttohellxo:

currently in IB
passion for investing
wants responsibility

soooo.. recruit for HF if equities or PE? Or Equity Research buy side roles. Well-known mutual funds etc. am i missing something? its kind of obvious.

My point is that even if I was VP level in a PE, Id still not be satisfied as long as I have to answer to someone, if that makes sense. At that position I would probably still be thinking about launching my own fund/business. My main goal is to get into a position where I am my own boss,

While I am interested in investing, Id probably be more happy as the owner of a couple of brick and mortar businesses than as a VP at a PE or a senior analyst at a HF.

With this in mind it gets a bit more complicated, as even consulting could be a good choice (assuming that it prepares one for entrepreneurship)

 

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