I always wanted to be an equity research analyst (sell side or buy side). But now that I finally broke in, and have been here for some time, I realize how bad shape the industry is in.
Buy side keeps getting hit by shift to passive, while sell-side (where I am) faces structural challenges from MIFID-2, as well as declining volumes. My firm just laid off 4 teams last week, and this comes after a talk by our Director of Research that bank is "investing in research"
Now, I am trying to strategize what to do and where to look?
Any suggestions about the most fulfilling exit opportunities (has to be related to directly investing in public/private), with a good long term outlook?