Deal-driven work vs. Asset Management
I'm fairly new in my finance career and am currently working with non-public fixed income alternative assets in a monitoring role. Recently, I've been able to do some deal work for the front office which needed extra help. I was wondering what people had to say about the pros/cons of working in the deal-driven/front office setting versus in a portfolio management/asset allocation role.
My take is: although I've enjoyed getting into the deeper details of each deal, I can see how after a while it's all the same type of work within your specific sector and may get repetitive after a while. I like the macro thought process of asset management. It seems more academic in my mind, as you'd have to be aware of where global economics are in general. Plus, it doesn't seem quite as harried as deal work (I'm not a fan of the "hurry up and wait" process some deals turn into). Although I would miss the instant gratification of deal work.
I'm thinking I should make this decision fairly soon so that I can better position myself to grow in either direction -> should my next step be towards more front-office work, or should I seek opportunities in asset management?
I'm also an L3 candidate, so my studies will also be shifting to an asset management bias in the next few months. |